The veteran Tory MP Sir John Hayes has been disclosed as a secret adviser to Suella Braverman, with some colleagues believing he has been influential in the home secretary’s rise from backbencher to a great office of state. Evidence of the former minister’s role emerged last week when Braverman was forced to resign for what government insiders insisted was a major security breach. Braverman had been locked in a row with the then prime minister Liz Truss and her chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, over immigration proposals and was unsure how to respond.
She emailed proposals from her ministerial account to her personal account and then attempted to send them on to Hayes, a fellow member of the European Research Group and the Common Sense Group. Braverman insists that she informed officials about the breach. A No 10 source told the Sunday Times this weekend that her exchange with Hayes was uncovered after the chief whip was informed. “She doesn’t make any decision without consulting John Hayes,” the source said. Her friends say that is a sexist exaggeration, but they admit Hayes has been a confidant for many years. Both want to see net migration severely restricted and believe it is a crucial issue that will come to define the Conservative party. “Suella is her own person. But she and John are in lockstep on immigration. They come from the same traditionalist wing of the party. They believe in nationhood, community and migration,” said one. The pair met when Braverman was a prospective candidate in the run-up to the 2015 election. After the election, and with Braverman elected as a new MP, they became friends. Their families often meet. Hayes told the Guardian last week, shortly after Braverman had been sacked, that she planned to campaign alongside him on immigration from the backbenches. “She reported herself and accepted responsibility. She’s disappointed to leave office but resolved to continue to campaign with me and others to fulfil the party’s manifesto commitments to cut legal immigration and end illegal migration.” Hayes was first elected as Conservative MP for South Holland and The Deepings in 1997 and maintains a healthy majority of 30,838. A Brexit campaigner, he has held five ministerial positions in the governments of David Cameron and Theresa May and six shadow ministerial positions. He was knighted in 2018 by Theresa May, an honour which it was assumed was a bribe to ensure that he voted with her on Brexit. He voted against the deal, however, surprising some of his colleagues from the ERG. Born in 1958, Hayes is seen as an outsider by some within the Conservative party. He grew up on a council estate in Woolwich, and was educated at Colfe’s grammar school and the University of Nottingham. He has addressed the Commons on living with head injuries after being involved in a serious car crash while in his 20s. A friend said Braverman will maintain her connections with Hayes and her fellow Common Sense Group MPs. “She knows that they are her base. She is smart and politically savvy and will stick with those who share her values,” he said.