ConservativeHome's Seats & Candidates blog

Even at this late stage could we introduce help for low income candidates?

If ConservativeHome listed our disappointments, close to the top of the list would be our failure to persuade the party to introduce a financial assistance scheme for lower income candidates.  We highlighted the costs of being a candidate two years ago but CCHQ has never really acted on our concerns - although David Cameron promised case-by-case help.

We mention the issue now in the context of the Labour Party's class war attacks on the Conservative Party.  In an article in today's Economist - Class Worriers - our hopes for more financial assistance are commended:

"The medium term looks little brighter, for the next intake of Tory MPs will contain many of gilded provenance. In the long term, however, the party could change its social mix by putting as much effort into recruiting parliamentary candidates from humble backgrounds as it has into finding women and members of ethnic minorities. Tim Montgomerie, who runs Conservative Home, an influential website, suggests more financial assistance for those who cannot afford the costs of a parliamentary bid. That would be a start."

Although most candidates have now been selected it's not too late to adopt our proposed package of measures: reducing the costs of attending a Parliamentary Assessment Board, establishing an emergency access fund for candidates in crisis and appointing a ‘Candidate’s Protector’ to limit the demands on candidates from their Conservative Associations.

Kemi Adegoke selected from all women shortlist to unseat Tessa Jowell

The other finalists were Melanie Hampton, Michelle Lowe and Liz Stevenson.

ConHome thinks this is the first all women final and local activists insist the four women were all there entirely on merit.

The Conservatives are in third place in the seat currently held by Tessa Jowell for Labour with a majority of nearly 9,000.

Liberal Democrat MP for Cheadle found guilty of misusing Communications Allowance

The LibDem MP for Cheadle has been found guilty of misusing his Communications Allowance after a complaint by Tory PPC Ben Jeffreys.

Mark Hunter MP, who is also PPS to Nick Clegg, was ordered to repay £500 after having allowed a constituency-wide survey on the NHS, paid for by the Communications Allowance, to be contaminated by party political messaging.

The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards concluded:

"I conclude, therefore, that the way Mr Hunter deployed this survey in his Liberal Democrat newsletter was a breach of the rules since he was using the product of material paid for from the Communications Allowance for party political or campaigning purposes."

He continued:

"I do not believe it was a calculated breach. But this was more than a series of isolated misjudgements or  individual mistakes. The evidence suggests that at its heart lay a confusion in Mr Hunter’s approach between communications with constituents as their constituency Member of Parliament and communications with them as a member of his political party. The former is properly a matter for support from Parliamentary allowances; the latter, not. While minor misdemeanours in themselves, the party reference in the survey’s end note and its description as a Liberal Democrat survey in the party newsletter are in my view symptomatic of a failure to make a sufficiently clear distinction between the Parliamentary and the party political. The line between the two can be difficult to draw but in my view the successful drawing of that line is central to the public acceptability of these allowances.  In this case, Mr Hunter did not distinguish clearly enough between his Parliamentary and party political roles and as a result I conclude that he breached the rules by using the  Communications Allowance, albeit largely indirectly, to support his party political or campaigning activities."

Ben Jeffreys commented:

"I welcome the Commissioner's report, and the Standards Committee's response, which uphold our original complaint. There are still some unanswered questions for Mr Hunter and I shall be seeking to address these over the coming months. However my initial reaction is one of deep concern. An MP is responsible for administering nearly £100,000 of taxpayer money and I am very disappointed that the Cheadle MP has been, at best and by his own description, sloppy at handling this responsibility. I think this also raises enormous questions about the role of the Communications Allowance in funding Parliamentary activity."

The Conservatives have found Labour MPs who have been abusing this Allowance and are pledged to abolish it as part of a wider reform of MPs' expenses.

The final eight for Fylde

1. John Coombes
2. Mark Menzies
3. Andrew Loftus
4. Dr Fiona Kemp
5. Jonathan Lord
6. Kay Mason
7. Mary Robinson
8. Janet Clowes

More seats selecting

These seats were released by CCHQ yesterday. Closing date for applications is 6th November by midday.

• Bishop Auckland
• Blackburn
• Caerphilly
• Camborne and Redruth
• Dwyfor Meirionnydd
• Ealing Southall
• Hartlepool
• Hyndburn
• Middlesbrough
• North West Durham
• Redcar
• Torfaen
• Worsley and Eccles South

Elly Jupp stands down as candidate for Hayes and Harlington

Elly Jupp has issued the following statement:

"It is with deep regret that I today announce that I will not stand as the Conservative candidate for Hayes and Harlington at the next General Election. I remain determined the Conservatives win this seat. I don't want to go into the detail of my decision other than to say it is for personal reasons.

"Hayes and Harlington deserves better and it is only with the Conservatives that local residents can get the change that they have told me they want. I hope my successor will win that change for them."

Geoff Courtenay, Chairman of the local association, has commented:

"The Association is of course disappointed that Elly Jupp has decided to stand down but we understand her reasons for doing so.

"We will be keen to select a new candidate who can continue to take the fight to Labour and work with local residents to bring about the changes they want."

Glenrothes by-election candidate calls for repeal of European Communities Act

The Telegraph reports of Maurice Golden:

"Maurice Golden, a 28-year-old campaign manager for Keep Scotland Beautiful, was asked by a political magazine which one law he would repeal, if given the chance. "European Communities Act 1972," he told the Total Politics website, without a moment's hesitation.

"The act took Britain into the European Economic Community and its repeal would entail withdrawal from the EU. Cameron declared only a few months into his leadership that MPs advocating withdrawal would be barred from serving on his front bench.

The Telegraph pursued this story with David Cameron's office. Cameron's spokesman responded: "David has spoken to Maurice and there is no question of him wanting to pull out of the European Union. Maurice believes that there should be changes to the act, but not that it should be repealed."

Vale of Glamorgan candidate forgiven for anti-Italian remarks

The Welsh Conservatives have just issued this statement:

"Alun Cairns has been reinstated as the Welsh Conservatives’ Parliamentary candidate for the Vale of Glamorgan, the party announced this afternoon.

Mr Cairns has also been appointed Shadow Local Government Minister in the National Assembly by Opposition leader Nick Bourne.

Commenting on his re-instatement Alun Cairns said:

“I am pleased this issue has been resolved and hope people will now judge me on my actions.

“I know I have a huge amount of work to do in the Vale of Glamorgan and look forward to working with the community to explain how Conservative policies can make a positive difference to their lives.

“I am also looking forward to resuming frontbench duties in the Assembly and to holding the Labour-Plaid Cymru government to account for the woefully inadequate way in which it is funding councils across Wales next year.”"

Mr Cairns had compared Italians to "greasy wops" in June.

Cllr Marcus Jones adopted for Nuneaton

Leader of the local council, Cllr Marcus Jones was adopted at an open primary yesterday evening.

Another candidate steps down... John Woodward in Camborne and Redruth

The West Briton is reporting that John Woodward, our candidate in Camborne and Redruth, is stepping down, citing the economic downturn.

The Tories are in third place in the seat; nearly 6,000 votes behind LibDem MP, Julia Goldsworthy.

Mr Woodward's decision follows a spate of other candidate resignations including Kevin Hollinrake in Dewsbury, David Potts in Edinburgh SW, Jill Skalla in Colchester, Alf Doran in Chorley and Simon Rouse in Nuneaton.

Finalists for Nuneaton

The four are:

• Victoria Ayling
• Rob Butler
• Marcus Jones
• Stella Kyriazis

Nuneaton is selecting again after the previous candidate Simon Rouse stood down.

Kevin Hollinrake resigns as candidate for Dewsbury

The Conservative selected to fight Dewsbury at the next General Election has resigned to concentrate on his business. Kevin Hollinrake is founder and head of the Yorkshire estate agents Hunters Property Group. He was was selected to fight the seat last July.

Labour MP Shahid Malik's notional majority in the constituency is slightly less than 5,000, and Hollinrake stated as he resigned that it is a seat the Conservatives should win.

Cllr Alan Cullens adopted for Chorley

Cllr Alan Cullens was adopted as the Conservative candidate for Chorley yesterday evening in an open primary contest.

Twenty-one more seats invite applications

The latest tranche of seats to select:

1. Birkenhead
2. Blyth Valley
3. Bolton South East
4. Burnley
5. Cardiff West
6. Ceredigion
7. City of Durham
8. Derby South
9. Halton
10. Newcastle-under-Lyme
11. North Durham
12. Nottingham East
13. Nottingham North
14. Preston
15. Scunthorpe
16. Stockport
17. Swansea East
18. Wansbeck
19. Warrington North
20. Wolverhampton North East
21. Workington

The closing date for these applications is midday on Friday 17th October.

Finalists for re-run of Chorley selection

1. Janet Clowes
2. Alan Cullen
3. Mary Robinson

The open primary will be held this coming Tuesday, 7th October and will be chaired by regional politics journalist Jim Hancock.  More here.

Ruth Kelly to stand down at next Election

The BBC is reporting that Ruth Kelly will not fight to retain her highly vulnerable seat of Bolton West.

She becomes the highest profile Labour figure to recognise the likely scale of Labour's defeat at the next General Election.

Cllr Susan Williams was selected as the Tory candidate for the seat in December 2006.

The battle for Hexham begins

ConHome understands that Hexham will advertise from today.  Hexham is the only Tory held seat in the North East and will attract a large number of applicants following Peter Atkinson MP's decision to step down.

One candidate already selected for a much harder-to-win NE seat requested permission to apply for Hexham; a permission that was (rightly) denied. Also denied permission was Martin Callanan MEP. Mr Callanan is ranked number one on the regional list for next year's European elections but had wanted to be in the running for Hexham. CCHQ denied Mr Callanan's request to apply for the seat, citing rules that require all MEP candidates to eschew Westminster ambitions until after next June's European elections. CCHQ has been willing to make exceptions in the past, however, and did so for Theresa Villiers in the past.

Some local Conservatives expect usual attempts by CCHQ to influence the process. On the margins of the Birmingham Conference, party officials were seen making strategic introductions for favoured candidates.

Mr Atkinson's decision to retire was too late, however, to win the Chairman a ticket to a Buckingham Palace Garden Party.  Earlier this year the Chairmen of the most winnable selecting seats were allocated tickets by CCHQ that were normally given to reward long or exceptional service by members of the voluntary party.