The British Conservative Party's former London spokesman, Mr Shaun Woodward, disclosed yesterday that he was fired from his front-bench post by pager message. His dismissal threatened to plunge the party into further turmoil.
The Conservative leader, Mr William Hague, defended the controversial sacking over Mr Woodward's refusal to back the Shadow Cabinet line on homosexuality, saying it had been essential for party discipline.
But he came under fire from the Tory front-runner for the mayoralty of London - former transport minister Mr Steven Norris. "I believe section 28 is totemistic, homophobic and unworthy of the Conservative government that introduced it," he told the Evening Standard.
Mr Woodward was dismissed on Thursday evening by the chief whip, Mr James Arbuthnot, after refusing to support a continued ban on the so-called "promotion" of homosexuality by schools and councils.
As a director of the charity ChildLine, he had argued that section 28 of the Local Government Act - which the Labour government now plans to scrap - prevented schools from helping pupils who were bullied on account of their sexuality.
In a radio interview yesterday, Mr Woodward said he had tried unsuccessfully to reach a compromise at a meeting on Thursday with Mr Arbuthnot.
After the meeting broke up, around 5 p.m., he returned to his home - where he took off his jacket with his pager in the pocket - thinking he had the rest of the evening to come up with an alternative proposal.
"I took my pager out of my pocket at 6.40 to discover that I had three pages, the last of which - at 6.20 from the chief whip - said: `If I don't hear from you by 6.30, you are no longer a member of the front bench,' " he said.
"I rang him straightaway at 6.40 and said: `I have only just got this page' and he said: `It is too late.' I said: `What do you mean by that, are you telling me I'm fired?' He said: `Yes'."
Mr Woodward insisted that, given more time, he could have come up with a "reasoned amendment" which would deal with the bullying issue while not encouraging any kind of sexual activity in schools.
Mr Hague, who was not directly involved in the sacking although he was kept informed of developments, strongly defended Mr Woodward's dismissal.
"We have learnt to our cost in the past that if discipline is not enforced then the party suffers from it, so discipline will be enforced."