Stanley Johnson has said he will be making a “tactical” vote for the Liberal Democrats in Thursday’s general election.
The former Conservative MEP – who is still a party member – told The Telegraph he wanted to “boost” the Lib Dems in his constituency because they were the only party talking about the environment and “rebuilding bridges” with the European Union.
Mr Johnson said his son Boris, the former prime minister, would probably accuse him of “apostasy” but claimed: “Even dedicated Conservatives have a right to indulge in a spot of tactical voting where basic political priorities are at stake.”
Speaking on Wednesday evening, Mr Johnson told The Telegraph he had “absolutely not” been kicked out of the party.
Addressing concerns over contributing to a Labour super-majority by choosing to vote Lib Dem, Mr Johnson said he was “actually doing [the Conservatives] a positive”.
“As a happenstance, it’s an example of tactical voting which even Conservatives should be thinking of doing,” he said. “Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the Conservatives actually managed to make a Labour seat go Lib Dem? That would be a pretty Conservative thing to do.”
Labour won the constituency Mr Johnson lives in, Queen’s Park and Maida Vale, at the 2019 election with an 18,874 seat majority.
‘First time’ vote for a non-Tory
Mr Johnson, who is a former Conservative member of the European Parliament, said: “This would absolutely be the first time I have not voted for the Tories.”
Asked about the timing of his son Boris’s late appearance on the Conservative campaign trail on Tuesday, Mr Johnson said: “He’s timing his fatal punch to the opposition…against the danger of ‘Starmergeddon.’”
He declined to comment on whether the former prime minister is positioning himself for a return to Politics should the Conservatives win at the ballot box on Thursday.
Mr Johnson was speaking at the Curzon Cinema, Mayfair, ahead of the premiere of a travel documentary he has made with his son, Max, called In The Footsteps of Marco Polo.
Boris Johnson is expected to attend the screening along with his wife, Carrie, brother, Leo, and sister, Rachel.
It came after Helen Baxter, the Lib Dem candidate for the London seat of Queen’s Park and Maida Vale, posted a video on Tuesday night of Mr Johnson giving her his endorsem*nt after they crossed paths while she was campaigning.
In the video, posted on Twitter, Mr Johnson –a passionate supporter of the EU – can be seen agreeing with her about how the UK has been “re-duplicating” European structures after exiting the bloc.
Asked whether he will support her, Mr Johnson replies: “I will be voting for you, Helen Baxter, in this election.”
Mr Johnson told The Telegraph that it was a relatively spur of the moment decision.
“There I was coming out of the Underground station at Queen’s Park and there was this lady called Helen Baxter and she had her voting card and so on,” he said.
“I said to her one of the things which has upset me most of all in this campaign is the fact that two crucial issues, first Britain’s relationship with Europe, and second, the whole question of – and this links to the first of course – the environmental policy, have not had the airing they deserve.
“And she said, well actually the Lib Dems do indeed have a strong policy on both these issues, and she presented me with her card, and yes, lo and behold, the whole third part of her programme was exactly Europe. So then I said to myself, well why should tactical voting not play its part here?”
Mr Johnson pointed out that earlier in the year he had told The Telegraph’s Camilla Tominey on her GB News show that he was “minded to vote for any party which clearly comes out in favour of emphasising Europe and emphasising the environment”.
“Having said that on Camilla’s show and then being confronted with Helen Baxter at the station, I said to myself, well practise what you preach, tactical voting,” he said.
Labour are heavy favourites to win Queen’s Park and Maida Vale, with Georgia Gould – the daughter of the late Lord Gould, the architect of New Labour – standing for the party in the seat.
Mr Johnson went on: “Yes of course I’m a dyed in the wool Conservative, but in this particular case what matters is to try and boost the Lib Dems in a constituency which the Tories have absolutely no chance to win.
“It’s not to say that I may not in some future election – if I’m alive to see one – revert [to voting Conservative].
“But on this particular occasion … I do propose to put my cross in front of the Lib Dem box.
“For me it is an absolute scandal that the absolute priority of rebuilding bridges with Europe just hasn’t been focused on by any party except the Lib Dems, and of course the Scottish Nationals - but I’m a long way from them.”
‘Basic political priorities at stake’
Asked what his son would make of the decision, he said: “He would use some word which would have to be looked up in the dictionary, like ‘apostasy’ I should think.
“I’m sure he would say apostasy was the appropriate term and we’d all be running for our dictionaries.
“Look, I think in this particular case, even dedicated Conservatives have a right to indulge in a spot of tactical voting where basic political priorities are at stake.”
The Conservative party constitution doesnot explicitly ban members from voting for other parties, but states: “Membership of the Conservative party is not compatible with membership of or association with any other registered political party.”
The party’s code of conduct includes a section on “helping political opponents” which says that being “associated with any other registered political party” is “an automatic disciplinary offence and if proved is likely to result in their expulsion from the party”. It also says that “every party member must not oppose any Conservative candidate in any election”.
The Conservatives were contacted for comment.
