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Robert Jenrick has demanded that prospective Conservative candidates should either promise to support leaving the European convention on human rights or stand down.
As the party continues to debate whether to pledge to withdraw from the international agreement, the shadow justice secretary said he would get candidates “to sign a contract to say they actually stand for Conservative values”.
“I would get them to say you have got to leave the European convention on human rights, and if you don’t want to do that, don’t stand as a Conservative,” he said. Leaving the convention is not currently a Tory policy.
Jenrick’s comments go further than the party leader, Kemi Badenoch, who was elected last year after telling her party leaving the treaty would not be a “silver bullet” to tackling immigration.
It will also be seen as another attempt to take the party further to the right, amid concerns from one-nation Tories that they are being forced out. The party is expected to announce a new ECHR policy at its annual conference early next month.
Addressing a meeting of the Thatcherite Bruges Group thinktank on Wednesday night, Jenrick was asked whether he was concerned that Conservative candidates were being asked to sign a contract with the party under which they could be kicked out if their views differ from central office.
Jenrick replied: “I would get candidates to sign a contract, not some kind of technocratic one. I would get them to sign a contract to say they actually stand for Conservative values. I would get them to say you have got to leave the European convention on human rights, and if you don’t want to do that, don’t stand as a Conservative.” His comments drew murmurs of support.
The ECHR was established in 1950 and sets out the rights and freedoms people are entitled to in the 46 signatory countries.
It is a central part of UK human rights law and has been used to halt attempts to deport people who are deemed to be in the UK illegally.
During the Conservative leadership election, the ECHR became a key dividing line between the two main candidates, Jenrick and Badenoch.
Badenoch argued that leaving the ECHR would not solve the UK’s problems, while Jenrick said his party would “die” if it argued to stay within it.
In June, Badenoch set up a commission to examine whether the UK should withdraw from a series of international legal agreements and overturn some domestic legislation.
Announcing the review, she told the Telegraph: “If we make that decision that we have to leave the ECHR, then that will be a condition of standing for parliament under the Tory banner.”
Moderate Conservatives say they are concerned by Jenrick’s words. A former Tory minister said: “This move of effectively setting an ideological purity test is a dangerous route for any political party. It is more sensible to expand your support rather than contract it.”
Another senior Tory said: “Jenrick should butt out. Kemi Badenoch must stop him from going rogue. Otherwise, what’s the point in having her as leader?”
Jenrick told the pro-Brexit audience that the UK must leave the ECHR and repeal “a whole series of other laws”.
“It means repealing a whole series of other laws which may have had noble intent whether it’s the Equalities Act, the Human Rights Act, the Climate Change Act, but which have had the effect of undermining the sovereignty of parliament,” he said.
He also attacked the last Conservative government for increasing net immigration after Brexit.
“The last Conservative government almost stuck two fingers up to the British public by doing precisely the opposite of what was promised,” he said.
Keir Starmer’s government is pursuing an overhaul of the ECHR. Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, has warned that “public confidence in the rule of law is fraying”.
The Conservative party has been approached for comment.
