Their letter, which will be delivered to Downing Street today, says: “Resignations from the party are beginning to multiply and we fear that, if enacted, this Bill will lead to significant damage to the Conservative Party in the run-up to the 2015 election.” One signatory, Ed Costelloe, who resigned as a Tory association chairman in Somerset over the issue, said: “This is a policy dreamt up in Notting Hill. The Tory party does not belong to David Cameron. It belongs to people around the country who have worked and campaigned for the party for a lifetime.”