Iceland executive chairman Richard Walker has resigned from the Conservative party as he accused it of drifting out of touch with business and the everyday needs of British people.
Walker had been thinking of standing for MP for the party, however, he has now removed his name from their list of approved parliamentary candidates and cancelled his Conservative party membership.
The Iceland boss wrote in The Guardian: “The Conservative party has drifted badly out of touch with business and the economy, and with the everyday needs of the British people.
“Indeed, many lifelong Tories I know now find it hard to disagree that the country is in a considerably worse state than it was when their party returned to power 13 years ago.”
Walker went on to say that the Conservatives are not “actually conserving” anything right now.
“Certainly not the business sector or our economy, the vitality of our high streets or the safety of my retail colleagues, our farming and rural communities, our rivers and seas, our net zero obligations, our NHS, our schools, our reputation for decency and fairness, or the future prosperity of our kids and grandkids.”
The businessman is also a Tory party donor. He has given just over £9,000 to party, while his father, Iceland founder Malcolm Walker, has donated £165,000.
His resignation from the party comes as other senior business leaders have stepped away from the party.
Carpetright founder Lord Harris, a leading Tory donor, said this week that the party did not deserve to win the 2024 general election while Phones4U founder John Caudwell, who gave the party £500,000 before 2019 election, has said he will not back Sunak after his U-turn on net zero pledges – and is thinking of donating to Labour instead.
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Iceland boss unimpressed with net zero backtrack
Walker, a keen environmentalist who has pioneered industry-leading schemes such as removing plastic and palm oil from Iceland’s products, also took particular umbrage with Sunak watering down net zero targets, including pushing back a ban on petrol and diesel car sales from 2030 to 2035.
The Iceland boss said that it was clear he would need to adjust his principles and values if he were to progress in his journey to become an MP.
“I was never prepared to wear a gag to bag a seat – and I am certainly not willing to make compromises with a party which has clearly lost its way on its approach to net zero and the environment in particular.
“It is plain that the prime minister has no real interest in green issues and his recent row-back on carbon reduction deadlines was, as Lord (Zac) Goldsmith observed, “cynical beyond belief” and a desperate attempt to “turn the environment into a US-style political wedge issue.”
Walker said the UK was in need of both stability and certainty while the government’s “constant changes of direction and failures to make decisions are actively undermining this”.
Despite his departure from the Conservative party, Walker dismissed media speculation that he had joined the Labour party.
“For the moment, there’s one party card that’s in the shredder, and it’s blue,” he wrote.
Walker added: “I shall enjoy my continued freedom to speak out without fear or favour about the issues that matter to me and all the people my business employs and serves.”
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