Helmer’s Bad Heir Day
natalie hamill, 1 February 2012
By Lucy Hatton
A political stalemate has emerged in Brussels between the UK Conservative Party and one of its more outspoken members, Roger Helmer MEP, over the succession of the latter’s seat in the European Parliament (EP).
Last week, Roger Helmer announced his decision to postpone his resignation until questions regarding his successor have been answered by the Conservative Party in the UK. Helmer wants the matter cleared up before formally resigning; the Conservative Party denies there is anything to clarify until there is officially a vacancy in the EP, i.e. after Helmer has submitted his resignation.
Helmer’s dilemma is this: according to convention, a vacant seat is filled by the next eligible candidate on the list of the party of the resigning member from the previous election; essentially, the person who is next in line on the list. There are no hard and fast rules on this, but the Rules of Procedure do state that the Member State of the departing member will be invited to fill the empty seat without delay. In the case of the East Midlands Conservative Party list from the last EP elections held in 2009, the next in line for Helmer’s seat should be Rupert Matthews, a writer, historian and political activist who was third on the list behind elected candidates Helmer and Emma McClarkin MEP. However, Matthews has subsequently been dropped from the list, and Conservative HQ have reportedly suggested that he would have to be re-selected (a process of application and interviews) in order to take the vacant EP seat – a suggestion which does not seem to be explicitly supported in any party rules.
Many commentators deem this proposal from the Conservative Party entirely unnecessary and even manipulative of the democratic system. Around one million voters approved the Conservative Party East Midlands list in the 2009 EP elections, a list that was compiled following an extensive procedure of hustings and votes back in 2008. Regardless of what has occurred since the election, at that time the voters expressed their wish for Matthews to succeed Helmer or McClarkin in the EP on the event of their resignation. Why, then, is the Conservative Party proposing to act against the democratic will of the UK’s citizens?
Opponents of the Conservative Party’s attitude maintain that there are ulterior motives for the suggested re-selection process and Matthews will be unsuccessful, leaving the Party leaders free to appoint someone of their choice. The reason for the reluctance of the Party to confirm Matthews has been hotly debated over the course of the week. Some say Matthews’ credentials have been brought into question after his company published a book on political correctness with an image of a golliwog on the front cover, and he has himself written on the subject of the paranormal – he apparently leads a course entitled ‘Understanding our Paranormal Universe’ at the International Metaphysical University – and the Conservative Party does not want a controversial or ‘wacky’ representative in Brussels. Others say that the Party are aiming to instead return a woman to the seat in order to redress the unbalanced gender representation of Conservatives in the EP. Alternatively, the Party may be concerned that Matthews is too similar to his predecessor who has openly spoken out against the Conservative Party and has cited its policy on the EU as a key reason for his desire to resign. Following recent accusations of the Conservative Party leadership being significantly more in favour of European integration than they suggest, it may be that Conservative HQ is rather uncomfortable at the thought of another strong-willed EU sceptic taking Helmer’s seat.
How this stalemate will be resolved one can only speculate, but it seems to me that there are three potential outcomes. In reiterating his assurance that he will not submit his formal resignation until the Party’s position is clear, Helmer has issued a warning: “if I am obliged to stay in place until 2014, I shall feel no further sense of obligation or responsibility to the Party.” Number one, therefore, is that the Party will not clarify their position; Helmer will not resign but will leave the Conservative Party. Number two is that the Conservative Party will confirm their support for the succession of Matthews and Helmer will resign for Matthews to take his place. Third, and most concerning, is that Helmer will resign to be replaced by a representative appointed undemocratically by the Conservative Party leadership and who will promise to dutifully support their policy. Regardless of party politics, rules or conventions, the people of the East Midlands have the right to a democratically mandated representative in Europe until 2014, at which point they, and only they, will have the opportunity to elect whomever they wish to stand up for their views.