Aleks Lukic-Scott: What would Badenoch think of my endless ordeal to join the Conservatives? | Conservative Home

Aleks Lukic-Scott is a former councillor from West Yorkshire. He stood as a UKIP candidate in the 2015 general election and as an independent candidate in the 2017 general election.

In July 2024 the Conservative Party announced the rules for the contest to replace Rishi Sunak as leader, saying that only individuals who had been party members for at least 90 days by the ballot closing date would be eligible to vote.

This was an open invitation for anyone supporting the party to join immediately if they wanted to have a say in the contest. Despite wanting to back Kemi Badenoch and submitting my application in good time, I remain without membership to this day after being refused by office holders in local Conservative associations.

As a long-time reader of ConservativeHome, I am thankful for being given this opportunity to highlight my experience, lay out my background and plead for assistance from any association who disagrees with how I have been treated so far. Any association willing to consider me for membership can get in touch with me on X @AleksLukicScott or email [email protected].

The rules for associations provide what should be a straightforward test for refusing membership: are the applicant’s declared opinions and conduct inconsistent with the Association’s objects and financial well-being, or ‘be likely to bring the Party into disrepute’?

I am sure that does not apply in my case but have no way to ensure the rules have even been properly followed, as none of the decision makers have had the courtesy to state their reasons for blocking my membership. The association where I reside has even stonewalled a GDPR information request that should have resulted in relevant details being furnished.

My party-political journey has not been an unusual one, starting with UKIP around a decade ago. I stood for election in my red wall constituency and then campaigned for Vote Leave alongside Conservatives, including one who would later become an MP upon the wall’s collapse in 2019. I had already left UKIP long before then, having witnessed its drift into fringe politics first-hand after Nigel Farage’s departure and wanting no part in it.

I initially continued to follow Farage towards the Brexit Party during our last ever European elections, when the Conservatives under Theresa May received less than 9 per cent of votes cast. The Brexit Party did not operate a public membership at that time, and I have had nothing to do with it since then in its new guise as Reform UK.

Instead I set up a small local independent group and narrowly won a council seat long held by Labour. Some local Conservatives, despite placing third at that election and failing to win a seat in that ward across decades of elections up to the present day, suggested that I had done something wrong by standing and defeating them.

The same few Conservatives also criticised my campaign to end the council’s procurement of meat produced from non-stun slaughter, which had already been banned by at least one Conservative-controlled county council at the time and remains banned there in 2025 under a Reform administration. This campaign was conducted in a professional and respectful manner throughout, and openly supported by other local Conservatives.

Things swiftly moved on and I maintained cordial relationships with Conservative councillors throughout my term, receiving and politely resisting regular encouragements to join the party. As a councillor I championed my constituents’ desire expressed at the ballot box for independent representation. After moving to a neighbouring district during the pandemic I did not seek re-election and have been politically dormant since, though have continued to be active in voluntary public service.

I consider myself part of the cohort of voters and experienced campaigners that are probably needed to help secure a future Conservative government. The gatekeeping imposed by my local association executives might be well-intended, but is certainly overzealous bordering on ridiculous towards a former councillor who has consistently adopted mainstream right-wing politics. It has made me wonder whether most of these officers are akin to Rory Stewart, who would prefer to see Jeremy Corbyn as Prime Minister than Nigel Farage.

I can still respect those who turned away my application from outside their patch where they have no obligations, but I cannot find much empathy with my own constituency chairman. This has been the first time we have ever been in contact, yet he has opposed my application from the outset and starkly refused to explain why. From that and his evasion of my GDPR request, I can only presume that his stance and his process would not withstand scrutiny.

There doesn’t seem to be much more that I can reasonably do to remedy this from the outside. I have undertaken to uphold responsibilities towards the party and prioritise collective campaigns and positions, but to no avail. Members who support my application have helped as much as they can. Ideally my local associations might reconsider their refusals. Otherwise, after over a year of trying to join, I am left with no better alternative than hoping that there is at least one interested association who will reach out on X or by email to offer support.

I have wanted to join the Conservative Party over anyone else as we are very strongly aligned on the economy and public finances, which are fundamental issues for supporting any party. I regard Badenoch as the best potential Prime Minister out of all party leaders, and would like to help her succeed in the national interest.

If Badenoch or her confidantes were aware of my background and the tribulations I have endured from merely trying to join the party, I have little doubt they would be thoroughly disappointed with the process. I am left hoping that I have just been an extremely unfortunate victim of the postcode lottery of local party officers and their predilections.

If that is not the case and my experience would have been similar wherever I lived, the Conservative Party must be in great danger of ceding its broad church status to Reform.