Stafford shortlist

Stafford Conservatives have selected their shortlist of candidates who will go through to a primary on August 11th:

Jeremy Lefroy - the non-A-lister of the three, Councillor and 2005 parliamentary candidate for nearby Newcastle-under-Lyme, he is also Treasurer of NuL's Conservative Association and a co-founder of Equity for Africa.

Andrew Stephenson  - Macclesfield Councillor, well known in Conservative Future, Chairman of Tatton Conservative Association and Area Officer for Cheshire and Wirral, also has the Sefton Central open primary the day before.

Maggie Punyer - former Chair of the local Staffordshire Conservatives group, fought Harrogate and Knaresborough in 2005 and Burton in 2001 (although the Conservative share of the vote dropped in both), didn't get through to the last round of the Staffordshire Moorlands selection.

This Lab/Con marginal was held by Bill Cash before David Cameron unsuccessfully fought it in 1997. This time around it will probably take less than the national swing to defeat David Kidney's 2121 majority.

Deputy Editor