Westminster blog

Of all the people to fall foul of, Tory MP Bob Spink ended up with Bill Sharp, who is 6ft 5in and weighs 18 stone. Sharp is deputy chairman of Spink’s local Tory association at Castle Point, Essex.

It is the personal enmity between these two men which lies behind the departure of Spink from the Tory party today.

Patrick McLoughlin, chief whip, implies that he withdrew the whip from Spink. The MP says this is “brass-necked dishonesty” and “low-political deceit” and that he resigned.

Frankly, who cares whose idea it was for the former management consultant to quit the Tories?

Much more interesting is the bad blood behind the row.

Sharp was an ally of Spink and helped him win his seat at the last election. But the Mail on Sunday claimed three years ago that Mr Spink had a relationship with Gail Boland, former partner of Mr Sharp.

Relations between the two men went from bad to worse and at one point the pair ended up in a court battle.

Mr Sharp was not answering his phone this evening.  Spink told the FT today that his relationship with Ms Boland had nothing to do with the row.

In 2005 he issued a statement saying: “I categorically deny having any sexual relationship with Gail Boland prior to the end of either my marriage or her relationship with Bill Sharp.”

The 59-year old was first elected in 1992, lost his seat in 1997 and returned in 2001. He quit the party ahead of an attempt by his association – not for the first time – to deselect him.

Spink had urged the Conservative party to investigate the management of the association but the party’s year-long inquiry was inconclusive. Today he said he was angry not to have had enough support from Tory central office.

Spink’s last appearance in the news was when it emerged that he had been paying not only his ex-wife but also Ashleigh Sharp – the teenage daughter of Gail Boland and Bill Sharp – to work as his researcher. There was no suggestion of any wrongdoing.

The word from Tory HQ last night, incidentally, was that few tears were being shed for the departure of Spink, whose interests include pottery and marathon running.