The party received an endorsement in "The Independent" from writer A. N. Wilson, as well as support from Paul Howell, a former Conservative MEP who had been a speechwriter for Margaret Thatcher and Edward Heath. and Sir Anthony Meyer, a former MP and the "stalking horse" candidate against Margaret Thatcher in 1989. After William Hague ruled out Britain joining the euro under a Conservative government, former cabinet minister Lord Gilmour of Craigmillar said he would vote for the PECP. Four former Conservative MPs – Sir Julian Critchley, Sir Nicholas Scott, Sir David Knox, and Sir Robert Hicks – and four former MEPs – Margaret Daly, Adam Fergusson, Madron Seligman and Anthony Simpson – wrote in a letter to "The Times" that "We would have wished that William Hague's party had put forward a manifesto more like that of the Pro Euro Conservative Party. Like many Conservatives, we shall find it very difficult to know how best to cast our vote on 10 June." The Conservative Party threatened to expel any members who supported the PECP, and did expel Critchley and Gilmour a fortnight after the election.