Justin Hinchcliffe said voting for Lynne Featherstone was the only way to stop Labour winning in Hornsey
Tottenham Conservative Association Justin Hinchcliffe was suspended for endorsing the Liberal Democrat candidate in a neighbouring constituency
The Conservative Party’s chairman in Tottenham has been suspended after urging people to support the Liberal Democrats in a neighbouring region.
Justin Hinchcliffe was removed from his post on Tuesday night by Grant Shapps, the Conservatives’ national chairman, after he said Conservatives in Hornsey & Wood Green should vote for Lynne Featherstone, the Liberal Democrat MP.
His letter, titled “Why do I, as a leading Haringey Conservative for many years, urge you to vote for Lynne Featherstone at this General Election?”, was covered in the national press over the weekend.
In it he writes: “To put it bluntly: If Lynne loses in Hornsey & Wood Green, Ed Miliband is another step closer to being Britain’s next Prime Minister. Because in this constituency, if Lynne doesn’t win, Labour will.
“As a national party, Conservatives will always field a candidate here, but no-one expects him to win, least of all the Conservative candidate himself.”
A Conservative party spokesman said: “The Party Chairman Grant Shapps has suspended his [Justin Hinchliffe’s] membership and removed him as an Officer of the Association with immediate effect, pending a full board decision.”
The Conservative candidate in Hornsey & Wood Green is Suhail Rahuja.
As an active Twitter user, Mr Hinchcliffe is known among political circles in North London for his outspoken attacks on Haringey Council and Tottenham MP David Lammy.
But his piercing remarks have not always been limited to Labour figures. In January, when Conservative councillor Nick Hines wrote of his “respect” for Mr Lammy after being helpful with a case involving a Tottenham family, Mr Hinchcliffe reported him to Conservative headquarters and publicly derided him as a “fecking disgrace”.
Justin Hinchcliffe could not be reached for comment, but he told the Daily Telegraph last weekend he was urging voters to cast their ballots tactically in this one constituency only.
“It is quite clear to me and to most intelligent people that no party is going to win an overall majority in the forthcoming election,” he said.
He told the paper his actions would help defeat Labour and claimed that senior figures in Tory high command would privately agree with him.