Tory party veteran quits over leader's ECHR stance

Scott Brown described the ECHR as a "cornerstone of civil liberties"

A Conservative councillor has quit the party "with profound regret" after Kemi Badenoch said a future Tory government would withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

North Northamptonshire councillor Scott Brown, a party member for 25 years, said the leader's ECHR stance was a "fundamental departure from the principles that have long defined our party".

Brown, ward councillor for Earls Barton, will now serve as an independent.

Helen Harrison, Conservative group leader at North Northamptonshire Council, said Brown's decision was "understandable" because of "his beliefs on this issue".

Badenoch's announcement - made on the eve of the party's annual conference - followed a review by the party's lead lawyer which found that staying in the ECHR blocked migration reform and led to the persecution of military veterans.

Last year, Badenoch had said leaving the treaty would not be a "silver bullet" for tackling immigration.

But on Friday she argued the move was necessary to "protect our borders, our veterans, and our citizens".

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said the Conservatives will take the UK out of the ECHR if they win the next election

Brown announced his decision to leave the Conservatives "immediately" in a lengthy post on his Facebook page.

He said: "The ECHR is not merely an international agreement; it is a cornerstone of civil liberties, enshrining rights that protect individuals from arbitrary state power and ensure justice, fairness, and dignity for all.

"This policy shift exemplifies a broader drift within the party away from its traditional role as the steadfast defender of British institutions toward a more populist agenda."

He said his concerns had been "compounded" at a local level by "ongoing issues within the party structures in Northamptonshire, adding its response to "several controversies involving senior members of the party" had been "unsatisfactory".

Responding to Brown's statement, Harrison said: "It is important for people in politics to be able to continually review their core beliefs and how they align with the political party to which they belong."

She said the party's commitment to leaving the ECHR was one she "wholly" supported as being "in the interests of British people".