New Tory Chairman goes to war with sacked Carol Vorderman over ‘shameful’ abuse
Richard Holden has slammed the former BBC star for attacking young Conservative activists, accusing her of "screaming abuse".
Carol Vorderman leaves BBC radio show over new social media guidelines
The newly-appointed chairman of the Conservative Party has wasted no time since his appointment to launch a war of words for sacked BBC presenter Carol Vorderman.
Richard Holden, who was appointed to the top Cabinet role last week, took to social media platform X yesterday evening to slam Ms Vorderman after she launched an attack on young Conservative Party members.
Replying to a Tory MP who promoted a year’s youth membership of the party for £10, the former celebrity ranted: “Can you imagine the shame nowadays of any young person saying they belong to the Corrupt Conservative Party?”
“Polls show only one percent of age 18-24 would even vote for you....and even then they'd probably do it in secret.
“Your self-serving govt [sic] is a blight on the U[sic], and will be remembered as a stain in our political history. General election NOW.”
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The new Tory chairman accused Ms Vorderman of adding to the abuse MPs of all parties have been receiving since last week’s vote on a ceasefire, which yesterday caused the Commons speaker to announce additional security measures in and around Parliament.
Mr Holden said: "In a week where MPs of all parties have seen their staff and offices targeted for standing up for what they believe, one of Sir Keir Starmer’s favourite online trolls starts targeting Young Tories for being actively involved in politics”.
"The only ‘shame’ in this is on a middle-aged person screaming abuse at young people via her keyboard for ‘likes’ from people who get off on hate.”
X users also pointed out that Ms Vorderman’s claim that just one percent of 18-24 years olds would vote Tory is incorrect.
While the party’s support among young people has plummeted, even since 2019, it still stands at around eight percent in current opinion polls.
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The official Young Conservatives X account also hit back at the sacked BBC presenter, arguing they have “a very healthy and growing membership across the UK”.
“Everyone regardless of age or background should be encouraged to get involved in politics, whatever the colour of their rosette without a fear of being targeted by the likes of you”.
Another social media user accused her of “acting rather vile now” in response to her latest hate-fuelled attack.
Ms Vorderman claimed she was sacked from her BBC Wales radio show last month over her public criticism of the Government.
She said management of the channel said they had “decided I must leave” due to her breach of impartiality guidelines.
The BBC recently introduced new social media rules meaning certain presenters are more restricted from commenting on politics.
The rules were rewritten following the row about Gary Lineker’s comparison of the Government’s refugee policy to "1930s Germany".
