Iceland boss Walker quits ‘out of touch’ Tory party

Walker was one of the most prominent business supporters of the party, but told The Times the government had shown an “inability to deliver” and “drifted out of touch with business, the economy and with the everyday needs of British people”. 

He was expected to stand as a Conservative MP in the next election but said he had had to make the “really tough decision” to leave the party.

Walker cited the government’s “flip-flopping” on big policies, a lack of progress on retail issues like planning and business rates, and ministers’ “rhetoric” about immigration and the environment as the reasons behind his choice. 

“I’ve always naturally assumed that Conservatives support business. What I was seeing coming out of the party was really conflicting with what I was seeing as a businessman,” said Walker. 

According to the report, Walker’s “final straw” had been Rishi Sunak’s rollback on net zero. He accused the prime minister of the “scrapping of laws that didn’t exist, weren’t even proposed policy” and said pressure had been put on him to moderate his views on the issue. 

The Iceland boss declined to name the people who allegedly applied this pressure, saying only that it had been “very, very senior people within the party”.

Sunak has been criticised for claiming he was “scrapping” plans to increase air fares to discourage the public from taking holidays and tax meat consumption – neither of which had ever been government policy.

Walker said he would notify the party immediately that he was cancelling his membership and leaving the candidate list. 

He denied speculation that he was poised to join Labour but said he was “open to persuasion on who to support”.