I think we can conclude with some confidence, now that the result has been announced, that the innovative all-postal Open Primary in Totnes has been a great success.
Crucially, at a time of scepticism about politics, politicians and the political prcoess, the electorate can already claim a degree of ownership of and affinity with our new candidate, given the unprecedented endorsement she has received from a sizeable proportion of that electorate.
Some have argued that political opponents can exploit the system to try and get a weak candidate chosen - a criticism I reject.
In any safe seat, there are likely to be scores, if not hundreds, of applicants seeking the nomination. It is certainly right and proper that local Conservative associations should have the duty of narrowing down that large field to a final shortlist of three or four candidates - by which stage all those in contention will be well qualified in their own ways to potentially represent the seat in Parliament.
But by then opening up the process to the wider electorate, the eventually selected candidate will enjoy a mandate which, so long as other parties have not employed a similar system, also gives them an electoral advantage come the general election.
There is clearly a cost issue to consider here as regards rolling the system out elsewhere, but if that is able to be overcome, then I hope we can look forward to more Open Primaries as a way of re-invigorating our democracy.
