Leaked emails published by Duncan Borrowman reveal a dismal state of affairs in the Orpington Conservative party, with Councillor Peter Hobbins writing comments such as, “Why are the Candidates Department so keen on these foreign names?!!!” and criticising members of the Conservative Party’s list of approved candidates for not having “a ‘normal’ English name”.
Duncan’s post says,
Racism is alive and kicking in Orpington Conservatives, as revealed in a couple of emails sent on the Bromley Council email system to their local councillors and constituency chairman in the early hours of this morning, and leaked to me today.
You can read the full story – and read the emails – on Duncan Borrowman’s blog.
As my surname isn’t a ‘normal’ English name either, perhaps it’s a good thing I’m not wanting to be Conservative MP for Orpington 
UPDATE: Evening Standard coverage here and Bromley Shopper here – including the news that the Conservative councillor has been suspended from the party.
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4 Comments
Cameron isn’t a “normal English name” either
Oh come on now, there’s no such thing as bigotry, there’s just different opinions and perspectives, you metropolitan snobs.
You’re just making fun of these people because they’re so near the M25.
Mark, on what basis do you says that “Pack” is not a “normal English name”?
It was surely “normal” to John Packe, who married Anne Shotter in Terwick, Sussex on 23rd August 1660, or to Thomas Pack, who was born in Ludlow, Shropshire in 1662, or even to Elizabeth Pack, who married William Bryan in St Giles, Cripplegate on 14th September 1662?
How and in what way is Joe Johnson a representative of the people of Orpington. Will he live in the constituency, send his children to our schools, or commute from Orpington station. I expect the answers to these questions is no. Regardless of politics, I would not vote for a career politician seeking a safe seat in an area in which he previously showed no interest.
Peter Litton