Controversies
An anti-Conservative Party advertisement for the CDA was published in Right Now!, containing the statement that the CDA was "horrified by Tory frontbench spokesmen advocating gay lifestyles and New Labour ideas". Andrew Hunter MP withdrew his patronage from the magazine due to the appearance of the advert, saying that he was 'appalled' by the "antics" of the CDA and that he no longer wanted to be associated with the magazine "in any way".
Michael Keith Smith later described the advertisement, penned by former CDA supporter Peter Gibbs, as "regrettably homophobic". Smith branded the incident "an untoward event" and promised that CDA will take a more "forward-looking and inclusive role in future".
In 2002, Iain Duncan Smith expelled CDA Chairman Michael Keith Smith from the Conservative Party for threatening to stand candidates against Conservatives. Mike Smith issued a writ claiming Breach of Natural Justice and the party was obliged to re-admit him to membership.
Soon afterwards, Smith resigned from the Conservative Party, and stood as a parliamentary candidate for the United Kingdom Independence Party in Portsmouth North where the Labour victory was claimed by the Conservative candidate to be a result of the UKIP candidacy, a claim also made by Richard North of the Bruges Group. During 2008 Mike Smith rapidly changed his stance and announced on the CDA's forum that he had rejoined the Conservative Party: "After wide-ranging initial doubts, Mike Smith has now enthusiastically accepted David Cameron's reform agenda and returned to the Conservative Party from UKIP".
As a result, the CDA Committee met in September 2008 and agreed that it would be best if the CDA was wound up. In December, Mike Smith announced on the CDA forums that the CDA would be disbanding as he himself had now come to support the Tories again and wanted to campaign for them in the run-up to the next UK general election and circulated a letter to all members and supporters saying that the CDA would be effectively replaced by the Traditional Britain Group and urging their support.
Michael Keith Smith died unexpectedly at Portchester, Fareham, Hampshire, on 3 July 2010.
Read more about this topic: Conservative Democratic Alliance