The stereotype of the toff in his tweeds, stomping about the bucolic English countryside, gun in hand, dog at his side, has long been associated with the Conservative Party, for good or ill.

The countryside, by extension, if one can heap all its acres into one cosy box, has gone with it.

The Tories even, some perceived, had their own rural pressure group: the Countryside Alliance was set up during the Blair years to back the rural vote.

Since its formation in 1997, it has campaigned for issues considered by some to be typically “Conservative” – fox hunting, deer stalking and the popularising of game meat.

Even the issues that were about more than hunting – such as the campaign against closure...