Tim Yeo MP will seek local party ballot as he fights to retain his seat

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/nov/30/tory-mp-tim-yeo-ballot-green-conservative

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Tory MP and green enthusiast Tim Yeo is expected to appeal to Conservative supporters in a bid to save his political career after leaders of his local party refused to re-adopt him as its candidate for the next general election.

Yeo, who chairs the energy and climate change select committee, failed to win the backing of the executive council of his South Suffolk constituency party in a secret ballot on Friday night. If he does not try to overturn the decision, he will not be able to stand at the next election.

Yeo, 68, who served as an environment minister in John Major's government, is understood to be considering asking for a ballot of the entire local party membership, which, if it backs him, would trump the executive vote.

His other option would be to stand again in a new contest but he is unlikely to do this.

It is known that some local Tories in Suffolk dislike Yeo's enthusiasm for green issues and his support for gay marriage. He is also less strongly Euro-sceptic than some in the party, and makes the argument that the UK's best interests lie with remaining in the EU.

Yeo has also been criticised for having extensive business interests in companies linked to the green industry while chairing the select committee. He insists he has been entirely open about his business affairs.

In June he was caught up in a sting operation by <em>Sunday Times </em>reporters<em> </em>and faced allegations that he offered to lobby ministers and "coached" an associate who was due to give evidence to his committee.

He was secretly filmed by the paper's investigators who posed as representatives of a fictional energy company seeking to hire his services.

Yeo strongly denied all the claims and was cleared 10 days ago by the cross-party standards committee of the House of Commons which found he had done nothing wrong.

The watchdog said the newspaper had used "subterfuge, misrepresentation and selective quotation" in its report.

Yeo was one of 25 Conservative MPs who recently warned the prime minister not to ditch the party's environmental agenda.

Labour's shadow cabinet office minister Jon Ashworth said last night that attempts to oust a moderniser interested in the environment was evidence that the Tory Party did not want people who believed in pursuing green causes.

"Tim Yeo's deselection is another sign that, under David Cameron, the Conservative Party is reverting to type, with no place for those who thought he meant it when he said, 'vote blue, go green'."

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