THE Tory party’s biggest donor is to defect to the UK Independence party in the first sign of a backlash at the return of Kenneth Clarke.

Stuart Wheeler, who gave £5m to the Conservatives in 2001, has announced he is donating £100,000 to UKIP, which wants Britain to withdraw from the European Union. His decision is a blow for the Tory leader, David Cameron, and the shadow foreign secretary, William Hague, who tried to reassure him Clarke’s return to the frontbench did not signal a softening of the Tory eurosceptic stance.

Hague telephoned the tycoon on the eve of Clarke’s appointment as shadow business secretary in an attempt to assuage him. Wheeler had warned he did not approve of the pro-European Clarke’s return to frontline politics, but Cameron went ahead with the appointment.

Yesterday the multi-millionaire attacked Cameron’s attitude to Europe, and said the Tories must wake up to voters’ concern about EU membership’s huge cost, and excessive Brussels regulations.

“I am very disappointed indeed with David Cameron’s stance on this issue. Much as I want the Tories to win the next election; getting Europe right is even more important,” he said.

He added that Clarke’s influence was a “concern”, saying: “He has indicated that he will not contradict current Conservative policy on the EU, but I don’t think he’ll be bound by that.”

Cameron has quelled the party’s divisive, long-running debate over Europe, fearing it will derail his modernisation campaign. Although Cameron has given a “cast iron guarantee” that the Conservatives will hold a referendum on the EU treaty if they win the next election, Wheeler has voiced doubts.

In a Sunday Times article, he writes: “My doubts about his commitment to doing anything effective were increased this week when I heard he told 70 Conservative MPs the EU issue didn’t matter! This may not be true but it fits in with what many people believe to be his attitude.”

The Conservatives “just wish no one would talk about the EU, so they can win the general election in peace”, he adds.

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