On a November evening, four former Conservative ministers will be on stage. The event will take place in Gerrards Cross, a Tory stronghold west of London. Nevertheless, this is not campaigning for the Tories.
Michael Heseltine, once vice-premier under Margaret Thatcher, picks up the microphone. Heseltine has long since left the House of Commons, but he has a request to the public: in the parliamentary election on December 12, vote for candidates who put the country first. For Heseltine it means - not for Tory politicians, but for independent candidates or the Liberal Democrats.
British politics is sorting out right now. It creates strange alliances and new rivalries.
The nominees on stage next to Heseltine this November are Dominic Grieve, David Gauke and Anne Milton, former ministers and, until recently, Tory members. Together with 18 colleagues, they were banned because of their resistance to a no-deal Brexit by Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Now they are running against the Tories in their constituencies.
Dominic Grieve still finds it difficult. "I was a member of the Conservative Party for 48 years, leaving them was a considerable blow to the heart," he says.
Grieve does not want to go back to the party. "It was certainly about the Brexit," he says. "But it's also about Boris Johnson himself." Doubts about Johnson's suitability as Premier went beyond Brexit. "I do not consider him trustworthy," says Grieve. "That disappoints me."
Five ex-Tories ran over to the Liberal Democrats. Grieve not. "I have respect for my colleagues who joined the Lib Dems, but it seemed to me better to be an independent candidate."
Grieve, a hero of the "People's Vote" campaign for a second referendum, still gets help from the pro-European Liberal Democrats. "We have voices that we can lend to him, and a small army of volunteers to support him," says Rob Castell, an actor and Liberal Democrat who does not run his own candidacy in favor of Grieves.
The ex-Tories advertise their independence and personality. "I have 14 years of experience," says Anne Milton to her constituents. Therefore, she could also assert herself against the two major parties, Tory and Labor.
What the politicians would do with independence, but is unclear. Grieve, for example, advocates a second referendum on Brexit, but under no circumstances wants to make Jeremy Corbyn a prime minister. Milton as well. "I would not support either a Corbyn-led government or a conservative minority government unless it rules out a no-deal Brexit."
It is not very likely that Grieve and the other ex-Tories will actually make it to the lower house. Independent candidates rarely win in Britain because voters eventually tend to vote for one of the two popular parties. "I'm not angry or bitter," says Milton. "Whatever happens in the election, I know, I did the right thing."
