investigation, Mr Cleverly told Sky News programme Sophy Ridge on Sunday: “Yes there will be.”
Pushed on whether the investigation would cover only Islamophobia or would be widened to include other
forms of racism, as Mr Johnson has previously suggested it could be, Mr Cleverly said: “One of the things
we need to get is a definition of that. Specifically on that point we will be guided by the formal definition
of Islamophobia. We do and will always take firm action with anyone who steps outside the boundaries of
appropriate behaviour.”
Mr Cleverly also cast doubts over a poll suggesting that a significant proportion of Tory members
hold negative views on Islam. The YouGov survey found that 54 per cent of Conservative members believe
Islam is “generally a threat to the British way of life”, while 60 per cent think the religion “is generally a
threat to Western civilisation”.
But Mr Cleverley said: “That poll was of people who claimed to be party members we didn’t share out
membership data with the polling company, so we’re not sure that they necessarily are. We’ve always
taken a robust line with people who have said inappropriate things or inappropriate behaviour.
We will always do that.”
The new Conservative Party chairman refused to rule out a general election this year, saying only that the
government would not “initiate” one.
Asked if there was going to be a poll later in the year, he said: “There isn’t. We are not going to initiate a
general election. What we’ve got is a new prime minister who during the leadership campaign made a
number of explicit commitments and he is setting about delivering on those commitments.
“Prime ministers making good on their promises is a good thing and that is what we are doing.”