Is the Conservative Democratic Organisation the Tory Momentum?

As a Labour member and supporter, I feel a certain schadenfreude watching the newly-formed Conservative Democratic Organisation (CDO) take the fight to the Tories. The CDO – set up in response to falling rates of Conservative party membership – appears to be a Tory version of Momentum. It’s certainly making the same mistakes.

In the early days, Momentum was a force for good within the Labour party: I remember seeing its members flooding the streets of Ilford North to ensure the election of Wes Streeting, who was hardly from their wing of the party. It was a movement that attracted idealistic people who shared Labour’s values – not just the Trotskyists of old.

But the movement – which now carps from the sidelines and has no influence on Labour politics or policy – is a shadow of its once powerful self.