Michael Gove and George Osborne have put their considerable political weight behind Tim Yeo's campaign against his deselection as the Tory parliamentary candidate for South Suffolk.
In his letter Mr Osborne described Mr Yeo, who has been the MP for South Suffolk since 1983. as a “politician of principle”, who has “a deep understanding of the countryside and farming”.
That could be seen as sticking two fingers up at the electorate. However, I'm not sure if Gove's support isn't just slightly lukewarm:
Tim is a highly respected and immensely experienced member of parliament. In the time that I have known him his work, firstly as a member of the shadow cabinet and latterly as the chair of two select committees, has been extremely valuable.