'Bring Boris back': Inside the Tory grassroots group creating fresh headaches for Rishi Sunak

It was the week Rishi Sunak finally set out his big vision for Britain - but thousands of his own members are less than convinced.

As she goes into her eighth year as a Conservative county councillor in true blue Hampshire, Fran Carpenter says she is still seething after Tory MPs deposed Boris Johnson and Liz Truss - both directly elected by the party's rank and file - within four months.

“I am frankly tired of the arrogance shown by some MPs in my own party towards the paying members," she says.

"What happened to Boris Johnson, and to some degree to Liz Truss, cannot be allowed to happen again."

She is one of the Tory members joining the Conservative Democratic Organisation (CDO) - a movement set up by allies of Mr Johnson with the mission of overhauling the workings of the party to put power into the hands of the membership.

Led by Lord Cruddas and David Campbell Bannerman, it already counts Priti Patel, the former home secretary, among its high-profile backers.

Ms Carpenter is far from alone. According to Claire Bullivant, CDO's chief executive, the campaign has already received about 1,200 applications from party members interested in becoming chairmen or taking up other roles in the new organisation.

Ms Bullivant says these recruits will form “a sort of shadow operation” to the existing structure of local associations.

While the CDO has radical aims to change the process for electing party leaders and to give members control over selecting and deselecting MPs, Ms Bullivant insists it is not at loggerheads with Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ).

She says the CDO has already had constructive face-to-face talks with CCHQ. “We’re all on the same side and just want what’s best for the party,” she adds.

However, there is no getting away from the fact that many of those joining are deeply sceptical of Mr Sunak’s leadership.

Harry Newton, a 32-year-old CDO supporter who sits on the executive of the Conservative Disability Group, says the ousting of both Mr Johnson and Ms Truss left him "desperately sad" as a free marketeer on the Tory Right.

Speaking in a personal capacity, he adds: "I hate that the men in grey suits have so much power. I was a big supporter of Boris, I still am a big supporter of him, and I was an even bigger supporter of Liz Truss.

"They were on the right side and it was a shame that the parliamentary party had other ideas. I honestly believe the only way we can turn it around is to bring Boris back. I think the May elections are going to be a crucial acid test."

'Coronation' of Prime Minister

Damien Druce, 43, the commercial director of a property finance company in London, joined the CDO "because I believe in democracy".

“The coronation of the current Prime Minister, that bypassed the membership and removed choice whilst silencing members, is far from democratic,” he says.

“It’s very clear that the party has been infiltrated by Remainers and those with more Left-leaning views, who simply put, are not true conservatives. I fully support the aim of reclaiming the party for its members and to give those members a voice.”

Jeff Weston, 68, a retired sports agent living in Borehamwood, has contacted the CDO wanting to learn more.

“The Conservative Party have decided they're going to go against the democratic will of the electorate by getting rid of the prime minister, because of the pressure put on by basically most of the Left-sided mainstream media," he says.

He proceeds to criticise the 1922 Committee of backbenchers, who he calls the "Brady bunch", and Tories who "didn't want to leave the EU and just didn't want Boris Johnson in there in the first place".

'Stitch-up' to get Sunak in

But for some lifelong Conservatives, the damage is already done. Phil Murphy, 53, lives in Stockton South and is full of praise for his friend Matt Vickers, who won the seat from Labour in 2019. He also fervently campaigned for Ben Houchen's election and re-election as the Tory mayor of Tees Valley.

While Mr Murphy is now standing himself in May's local elections, it will be as a Reform UK candidate after he tore up his Tory membership card and joined Richard Tice's insurgent Right-wing party.

He claims there was a "stitch-up" to get Mr Sunak into Downing Street, and sees the Prime Minister as out of touch.

"People are just so angry they didn't get a vote [in October] - he's not popular at all. I think it's absolutely disgusting."

Mr Murphy admits there is still one thing - or, rather, one person - that could tempt him back into the Tory fold.

"Sunak is not for me, or for a lot of other people I've spoken to. But if Boris made a comeback, I'd have to have a serious think. He was a brilliant prime minister."