Well that was a bad judgement call from Downing Street, with Cameron and Osborne spending their political capital hopelessly backing Tim Yeo. Senior Tories are paranoid that this is just the beginning of the de-selection woes and the crack in the dam is rapidly expanding. Associations are going to get a taste for this sort of accountability and direct action. 

No. 10 say the deselection “is a matter for the constituency”, but that’s a funny way of describing a direct challenge to the PM’s authority. While the Chancellor hilariously described Yeo as “politician of principle”, just last week Dave wrote:

“You have served your constituency of South Suffolk for over three decades – a record of which you can be enormously proud. I very much hope that you will be selected to stand as the Conservative representative in this seat again, so that you can fight to continue representing your constituents in the next parliament as you always have done in the past, with tenacity and commitment. Your considerable expertise in rural issues and the environment has been of real benefit to our party and our country. You have always provided a strong voice for the people of South Suffolk and it would be a great loss to your constituents, to parliament, and to the Conservative Party if the South Suffolk Conservative Association did not re-select you so that you can continue providing that steadfast representation.”

The hard-working people of South Suffolk politely disagreed. Let the uprising begin.

UPDATE: 

It was all going ok for Tim Yeo until this… #YeoGo #CurseOfCameron http://t.co/PZRXiKnswk

— Michael Dugher (@MichaelDugher) February 3, 2014