Would-be Tory MPs must believe in 'fundamental' need for Britain to quit ECHR in order to be candidate at next election - Philp

By DAVID WILCOCK, DEPUTY POLITICAL EDITOR Published: 10:03, 13 July 2026 | Updated: 10:16, 13 July 2026 Anyone wanting to be a Conservative MP must believe in the 'fundamental' need for the UK to escape Europe's human rights regime, Chris Philp warned candidates today. The shadow home secretary warned that even giants of the party's history like Kenneth Clarke would not be allowed to stand because of their support for the European Convention on Human Rights.  Mr Philp spoke out after Kemi Badenoch last week began a purge of party 'wets' - liberal-minded Tories who back human rights and Net Zero. She has rejected applications to be a party candidate at the next general election from those who don't agree with her policy shift - even if they are former MPs. Ex-home secretary Lord Clarke has critiscised the Tory move towards quitting the ECHR framework, saying in 2024 that while it needed reform it was 'a most important international institution'. Asked by the BBC's Today programme if Lord Clarke would be barred from standing if he was eligible today, Mr Philp said: 'On this issue yes, because it is so foundational it is so fundamental.  'The ECHR is stopping us from controlling our borders, it is stopping us from deporting foreign paedophiles.' He continued: 'We have had this debate in the party, the shadow cabinet has unanimously decided, rightly, that we need to leave the ECHR to control our border, to protect our veterans and so on. The shadow home secretary warned that even giants of the party's history like Kenneth Clarke would not be allowed to stand because of their support for the European Convention on Human Rights Lord Clarke has criticsed the Tory move towards quitting the ECHR framework, saying in 2024 that while it needed reform it was 'a most important international institution' 'If the British public is going to vote Conservative they need to know what they are going to get.' Since being elected as leader in November 2024, Mrs Badenoch has ditched Net Zero targets and called for Britain to quit the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). She last week revealed how all those who want to represent the party at the next general election will have to show they are able to 'deliver radical change'. With Andy Burnham soon set to enter Downing Street as the next Labour prime minister to replace Keir Starmer, Mrs Badenoch is making preparations for the country to go to the polls.  She said the Tories would 'step up' their selection process over the summer after they received more than 2,000 applications to be Conservative candidates. Mrs Badenoch added her party needed to 'show we have changed for the better' following its disastrous general election defeat in 2024, as she vowed to build 'a government in waiting'. She outlined how she had set 'rigorous tests' for aspiring candidates to pass, as she strives to make a clear break from the party's policies under former leaders. 'Soon some of those who applied, including former MPs, will start to receive a decision and they will be unhappy at not passing the test that will let them stand for the party at the next election,' Mrs Badenoch wrote in The Telegraph. 'Candidate selection is not just 'admin', nor is it simply a favour to former colleagues.  'It is one of the first serious tests of whether the Conservative Party has actually learnt from defeat. We are building a team that can govern the country and deliver radical change.'