David Maddox: Jostling for position behind Cameron

THE festive spirit of loving and giving seems to be in short supply in the Tory party hierarchy this Christmas, with two of Theresa May’s special advisers unceremoniously dumped as candidates for safe seats next year

Theresa May is George Osbornes chief rival for the leadership if and when David Cameron goes. Picture: Getty

Nick Timothy and Stephen Parkinson are apparently being punished for ignoring David Cameron’s edict that all Tory “spads” – as special advisers are unaffectionately known – should have campaigned in the Rochester and Strood by-election, which the party lost to Ukip defector Mark Reckless.

The two have claimed that they did not get involved with campaigning because they believed it would have broken the civil service code. They may be party appointees, but they are on the civil service payroll.

Whatever the rights and wrongs of what spads should or shouldn’t do, this is about more than the Prime Minister dishing out cold turkey to people who did not do as they were told.

The man in charge of the Tory candidates list and general campaign co-ordinator is, in fact, the Chancellor, George Osborne, and this latest development appears to have far more to do with his leadership ambitions than it might at first appear.

CONNECT WITH THE SCOTSMAN

• Subscribe to our daily newsletter (requires registration) and get the latest news, sport and business headlines delivered to your inbox every morning

• You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Google +

It is not a coincidence that Mrs May is Mr Osborne’s chief rival for the leadership in parliament if and when Mr Cameron goes. The third contender is London mayor Boris Johnson.

To have one spad hauled over the coals is unfortunate, and two may be careless, but three begins to look like a conspiracy. Mrs May has now seen three of her spads taken out by colleagues.

Earlier this year, Fiona Cunningham was forced to quit courtesy of a row with one of Mr Osborne’s chief leadership allies, the chief whip, Michael Gove, when he was education secretary. Now the hidden hand of the Chancellor is being blamed for two of Mrs May’s closest advisers being blocked from becoming MPs, leaving her short of key allies in any leadership bid after the next election.

Mr Osborne, meanwhile, is making sure acolytes such as Culture Secretary Sajid Javid and Education Secretary Nicky Morgan are getting key posts.

But with an election down the line, why are senior Tories focusing on their leadership prospects rather than winning at the polls?

Many senior Tories now think the party has little chance of a majority and will struggle to put together a coalition or even a “confidence and supply” arrangement. The last poll had them seven points behind Labour when they need to be at least five in front.

But even if they pull off a miracle result in May, the calculation is that Mr Cameron has lost his backbenchers and cannot survive, so whatever happens, the leadership is up for grabs.

SCOTSMAN TABLET AND IPHONE APPS

• Download your free 30-day trial for our iPad, Android and Kindle apps

• Keep up to date with all aspects of Scottish life with The Scotsman iPhone app, completely free to download and use