Hard blow for Rishi Sunak as Icelandic boss, donor, leaves party for “about-face” on major policies

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Iceland boss Richard Walker quit the Conservative Party after launching a scathing attack on Rishi Sunak for U-turn on net zero emissions and HS2.

The Tory donor, one of the party's leading business supporters, said the Tories had "lost touch" during the cost of living crisis and had demonstrates an “inability to keep their promises”.

Mr. Walker – who had once hoped to run as a Conservative candidate – said Britain was “in a much worse state” after 13 years of Tory rule.

“It's a really difficult decision. I always naturally assumed that conservatives supported business. What I saw when I left the party was really at odds with what I saw as a businessman,” the 43-year-old executive president told The Times.

The Iceland leader said he was worried about running for Conservatives because of 'flip-flops' on key policies and ministers' 'rhetoric' on immigration and change He said Mr Sunak's decision to water down net zero emissions targets - pushing back a ban on sales of petrol and diesel cars from 2030 to 2035 - was the "last straw". The straw that broke the camel's back."

Mr Walker also condemned the Prime Minister for pretending to repeal "laws that didn't even have a proposed policy."< /p>

The Prime Minister had highlighted a series of "worrying proposals" - including the possibility of a meat tax and requiring households to have seven bins - which he claimed was in the works. to chop. But government documents showed these ideas were never part of the government's plans.

Rishi Sunak lost a series of leading conservative donors

(Getty/PA)

Mr. Walker also condemned the idea of ​​abandoning the northern part of HS2 from Birmingham to Manchester. “UK plc needs stability and certainty and the problem is there has been so much flip-flopping,” he said. “Take HS2. I'm not a fan of HS2 - but it's better to do it than to do it half-heartedly. »

The Icelandic boss gave just over £9,000 to the Conservatives. His father Malcolm, founder of the supermarket...