Harriett Baldwin selected for West Worcestershire
A good day for the A-list and a good day for women on the A-list. Earlier today Karen Bradley was selected for Staffordshire Moorlands and ConservativeHome has just learnt that Harriett Baldwin has been adopted for West Worcestershire.
ConservativeHome has broken the news to Bernard Jenkin MP, Deputy Chairman for Candidates. He warmly welcomed the news:
"This is still early days for the A-list but I am pleased that excellent candidates are being selected in the target seats. I am delighted to see Harriett and Karen selected today. They will be great Members of Parliament."
Harriett works for J P Morgan and hosted a fundraiser on Wednesday night for the Centre for Social Justice. She was second in the race to succeed Michael Howard in Folkestone & Hythe.
THE PROPORTION OF WOMEN SELECTED SINCE THE INTRODUCTION OF THE PRIORITY LIST NOW EQUALS 30.8%.
13th September update: Harriett Baldwin's website
I want to be the first to congratulate my friend Harriet Baldwin and West Worcestershire on this selection.
Harriet is, quite simply, liked by all who know her. Her generosity to me and to other candidates has been unbelievable. She is a credit to our party, and an extraordinary worker. I know she will make mincemeat of Richard Burt.
I simply could not be happier at this fantastic news. The other two candidates were outstanding and first rate Conservatives and people and I know they too will find excellent seats.
Congratulations to Harriet Baldwin and to West Worcestershire.
Posted by: Louise Bagshawe | July 15, 2006 at 18:46
HURRAY!! This is excellent news and shows that merit means something still in the party...not just sucking up.
Posted by: Hmmmm | July 15, 2006 at 19:07
Louise is spot on. Harriett was in the final 3 with me in North Norfolk and was a great friend to me over the next 18 months. She held a fundraiser in her home for my campaign and is an absolute star in the making. This seat had three top grade candidates to choose from.
Posted by: Iain Dale | July 15, 2006 at 19:16
Congratulations to both Harriet Baldwin and Karen Bradley on their selections today. Like Bernard Jenkin, I too am sure they will both make excellent Members of Parliament.
Posted by: A H Matlock | July 15, 2006 at 19:17
Harriett was terrific at tonight's selection meeting.
Andrew Griffiths lost his frontrunner status because he was far too smooth.
He is young and with more life experience he will be a good MP.
Posted by: John Bean | July 15, 2006 at 19:27
Congratulations to Harriett Baldwin.
I must say personally I thought Andrew Griffiths was performed better on the day, but I am sure Harriet will make a fine candidate and MP.
I'm there will be plenty of associations delighted to take Andrew Griffiths also.
Posted by: Rich | July 15, 2006 at 21:21
Brilliant, couldnt be more pleased for her. Harriett deserves it and will be a great asset to the Parliamentary Party in due course...
Posted by: Jamesw | July 15, 2006 at 21:29
The brown-nosing on this site is nauseating!
Posted by: OBN | July 15, 2006 at 22:52
Great, another accountant / management consultant / lawyer. Just what the country needs.....
Posted by: urwvar | July 15, 2006 at 23:17
Is she a good campaigner and is she sound?
Posted by: TaxCutter | July 16, 2006 at 08:55
She is an excellent and committed campaigner and is sound enough for me. I was her Chairman in Stockton North and hence my interest in her progession. I am only a little dissapointed that it means she wont be a Stockton candidate again...
Posted by: Jamesw | July 16, 2006 at 10:13
A Baldwin in West Worcestershire? Now I have heard that somewhere before ....... :-)
Posted by: Unixman | July 16, 2006 at 19:40
Yet the BBC still have "Tories fail to select women" as a headline on the Politics News Page.
Is that due to inefficiency or bias?
Posted by: Laura | July 17, 2006 at 08:36
Another objective critique of the 'A' list from our newly anointed 'Tory powerbroker' editor.
Well done Tim, you'll be on the Board before too long agreeing with Raymond Monbiot.
KEEP IT REAL!
Finally - is there any reason to believe that these two excellent candidates could NOT have been selected without the 'A' list?
Posted by: Old Hack | July 17, 2006 at 10:11
Congratulations Harriett. There were some excellent candidates in West Worcestershire and you have demonstrated that the A List is not just about who you know or being of the 'right gender'. Good luck for the months ahead. Both the Association and their candidate are credits to the Party.
Posted by: Phelps | July 17, 2006 at 11:03
I've just had a chance to log on and see the kind comments everyone has posted. Thank you very much.
Yes, Taxcutter, I am sound. No "urwvar" I am not an accountant/lawyer/management consultant. I am a pensions and investments manager and a currency expert against the euro. Gordon Brown has virtually destroyed a private pensions system that used to be the envy of the world and I am changing jobs to get rid of him and his debt-ridden legacy to our children
I particularly want to commend the other two finalists from West Worcestershire - Margot James and Andrew Griffiths. They have both been a big inspiration and help to me as a candidate in their respective roles as Vice Chairman for Women and as Women2Win activist. I am sure they will find good seats soon.
Posted by: Harriett Baldwin | July 17, 2006 at 20:47
Is she sound?Haven't heard that expression since the old FCS days of the 1980's when rightwing Thatcherites/Libertarians referred to themselves as 'sound' and everyone else as 'wet' or not a 'proper Conservative'.I really hope we are not going back to those old divisions.
Posted by: malcolm | July 18, 2006 at 10:06
Is this why A-list women are getting selected?
This is what Peter Luff MP, and former whip said at the beginning of the West Worcestershire selection meeting….
“You are about to choose the next MP for West Worcestershire.”
“It is an honour to be here to witness it – my neighbour is a matter of some importance to me! But it is firmly your choice.”
“The electorate must never be taken for granted – but a good campaign should see this seat return a Conservative MP.”
“West Worcestershire is an unusual seat – from Hinton-on the-Green, only five miles or so from the Cotswolds, now right up to Tenbury Wells – it encompasses a wide range of people and activities.”
“All three candidates have satisfied your selection and executive committees that they are capable of representing those people – and I have heard good reports of all three. They are all good campaigners and will all make a good local MP.”
“Your task is now to choose not who you like best, but rather who will best represent this diverse constituency in parliament.”
“But this is not just a local selection.”
“It is one of the first relatively safe seats under the priority list procedure, and the seat of my good fiend Sir Michael Spicer the current chairman of the 1922 Committee – your decision will be noticed by a much wider audience.”
“The decision you are about to take has national implications, but it is your decision – and your decision alone. The autonomy of the Association remains intact.”
“I can only give you the most general advice – but one important obstacle is the way other people see us.”
“Women in particular – who used to support us in large numbers – have turned away from us. We are still not trusted to be able to govern modern Britain.”
“So we have to look and sound different if we are to win – of course we have to do more than that. We have the right leader, but we need the right policies and the right presentation – and a fair bit of luck too. But looking and sounding different is a vital part of it.”
“That sounding bit is very important – set piece speeches are no longer how we communicate. Now it’s radio interviewers and television studios that we rely on – hence this novel interview format that should help show how your candidates will come across to the wider world.”
“So if you want your next MP to sit on the government benches, I can only ask you to think what message your decision tonight will send out to the wider world about the kind of party we are; all three of your candidates can be your local MP and do it well – but which of them will do most to return us to power.”
“As David Cameron said in that DVD, it is not political correctness to say that gender balance matters; we need more women and more ethnic candidates, and candidates from a generally broader background, to persuade people we are a party that is representative of the country we aspire to govern. It is not political correctness, but it is about image.”
“I know Tony Blair has given image a rotten name. But the great Conservative leaders have always worried about image. Churchill, Macmillan, Thatcher – they all cultivated the image necessary for the moment, and did so very well.”
“And the greatest figures in British history cultivated their images with great care too. I can think of two famous figures from our island history who you would recognise instantly precisely because they cultivated their images with such care and at such expense – King Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth I both knew a lot about images!”
“I wish you well with your difficult choice today. There can only be one winner. That winner will be your next MP – I have no doubt. But which will do most to help our great party win the next election?”
“This is not just a local selection – it is a crucial staging post in the battle that we face to win the next general election. Good luck!”
Hmmmmmm. Democracy anyone?
Posted by: Matt Davis | July 28, 2006 at 21:16
Well, Matt, you obviously went to the trouble of taping Peter Luff's remarks. (Either that, or you've got very good shorthand!)
Both Peter's remarks and the obligatory viewing of the CCHQ DVD might well have been intended to sway the minds of those present in favour of a female candidate. Despite that, there have been a number of seats where the lone male candidate has won through in the face, no doubt, of similar 'encouragement'.
I would hope that the Party members in West Worcestershire were able to rise above all this and vote for the candidate whom they genuinely thought was best suited to the job. I was a keen supporter of Andrew Griffiths and was very sorry not to see him selected. However, I'm going to support Harriett Baldwin to the hilt and look forward to seeing her succeed Sir Michael as West Worcestershire's next MP.
My main concern is that CCHQ doesn't seek to address the perceived continuing imbalance by introducing all-female shortlists. It would be at that point that my membership card would be returned to them, cut into very small pieces.
Posted by: Richard Weatherill | July 30, 2006 at 23:12
Howard Flight would have been the best candidate for this seat. He is local, living right plumb in the middle of the seat, and has had an outstanding career in finance. Sadly he'll go to the lords now and his talents will be wasted in the war against Brown, leaving little old Osborne to land powderpuff blows.
Posted by: memory | August 09, 2006 at 14:51