Lord Ashcroft, one of the Tories’ biggest donors (and deputy chairman), yesterday took a majority stake in Conservativehome, the grassroots website which often acts as a thorn in the side of the party leadership. Tim Montgomerie, who runs the site, has insisted there will be no editorial interference.
I hadn’t realised that Stephan Shakespeare, founder of the site, had also sold the majority of PoliticsHome to Ashcroft.
Andrew Rawnsley, who had been editor-in-chief of the site, has just stepped down, saying:
“I therefore greatly regret the decision made by Stephan Shakespeare, the chairman, to do a deal which places PoliticsHome under the ownership of Michael Ashcroft, the deputy chairman of the Conservative Party. The site has been folded along with ConservativeHome into a new entity in which Lord Ashcroft is the majority shareholder.
I became Editor-in-Chief on the basis that PoliticsHome was dedicated to being a non-partisan site clearly independent of any party both editorially and financially.
It was essential for users of the site that they could feel absolute confidence in the political independence of PoliticsHome.
I do not believe that can be compatible with being under the ownership of the deputy chairman of the Conservative Party.
Incidentally, Rawnsley said he’d left “PoliticsHome.co.uk”. Isn’t it “PoliticsHome.com” or am I going senile?
Here is the official announcement.
UPDATe
Another 30-odd contributors to PoliticsHome have decided to walk. Here is their statement.
Jim Pickard
Kiran Stacey
