ConservativeHome's Seats & Candidates blog

Mark Coote selected for Cheltenham

Mark beat Tariq Ahmad and Jesse Norman - two excellent candidates who will, hopefully, be adopted elsewhere soon.  But warm congratulations tonight to Mark.

Steve Brine selected for Winchester

A-Lister and Winchester local candidate Steve Brine was selected earlier this evening at the University of Winchester.  Steve runs a PR business in Hampshire and is an ex-Area Campaign Director for Hampshire.

The final four were also A-Lister Emma Webster, A-Lister Antonia Cox and local candidate and leader of Winchester City Council George Beckett.

Finalists for tonight's Cheltenham selection

Three male A-listers are in tonight's final for Cheltenham: Tariq Ahmad, Mark Coote and Jesse Norman.

Heather Wheeler selected for South Derbyshire

Congratulations to A-lister and local councillor Heather Wheeler, PPC for Coventry South in 2001 and 2005, who was adopted yesterday evening for a seat that has a notional Labour majority of 2,733.

Four candidates had been shortlisted.

What George Osborne thought of ConservativeHome's decision to publish the A-list...

"Take Conservativehome.com.  It’s an on-line community of Conservative activists that engages in a constant commentary on what the Conservative Party leadership is up to.  Thanks to them our attempts to keep our new A-list of candidates secret lasted about 24 hours – not because it leaked but because individual candidates were identified one by one by friends and friends of friends on the network.  My first reaction was to be annoyed.  And then I paused and thought about it, and realised something exciting was happening.  There was a vibrant, noisy, irreverent Conservative community out there.  Our party was alive not dying.  Although I am sometimes the target of members on Conservativehome.com, it is unambiguously a good thing that it exists.  For it – and other websites like Iain Dale’s blog and the new conservative internet TV station 18 Doughty Street - are sure signs of the health of the Conservative movement.  That’s why my fellow Shadow Cabinet colleagues and I regularly take part in interviews and discussions on websites like these.  Nothing like it exists on the Government side.  Why?  Because you simply couldn’t imagine the current Labour leaders working with a website where Labour supporters took pop-shots at them.  They haven’t yet realised that in a bottom-up age, a top-down government is unsustainable. The days when party leaderships and governments handed down decisions from on high is long over."

Taken from tonight's speech by George Osborne on 'Politics and Media in the Internet Age'.

Tom Biggins selected for Telford

Tom fought Clywd South at the 2001 and 2005 General Elections.

The ConservativeHome running order of selected candidates will be updated later today.

Nicola Blackwood selected for Oxford West and Abingdon

Background here.

Final three four for Witham

11.15pm correction in red...

One of the 'safest' seats to emerge since the birth of the A-list is down to the final three four...

James Brokenshire MP (the early favourite), Priti Patel and Geoffrey Van Orden MEP are the finalists for Witham along with local Charles Elphicke (who it is rumoured led the voting at the Executive stage).

Noon on 17/11: Charles Elphicke has launched a website to boost his bid.

Harrow East finalists

Cllr Bob Blackman (GLA member for the constituency), A-lister Mimi Harker and local man Dr Alan Mendoza are the final three for Harrow East.

David Nuttall selected for Bury North

Today's open primary selection has provided local solicitor David Nuttall, 44, with a second opportunity to unseat Labour MP David Chaytor in Bury North.  Labour held the seat with a 2,926 majority at the last election.  Alistair Burt held Bury North for the Tories until 1997.

George Hollingbery selected for Meon Valley

Iain Dale is reporting: "George Hollingbery has just been selected as Conservative Candidate for the new seat of Meon Valley. He beat Kwasi Kwarteng, Rebecca Harris and Flick Drummond for the nomination. George fought Mark Oaten at the last election."

UK Polling Report gives the new seat of Meon Valley a notional Tory majority of 1,989 if it had been fought in 2005.

Oxford West and Abingdon open primary

Nicola Blackwood - human rights campaigner, lives in north Oxford

Joanne Bowlt - used to be in regular army, lives in Summertown

Kedra Goodall - training to be a criminal barrister, is a martial arts expert

Emma Webster - cabinet member on West Berkshire Council, lives in Newbury

The selection is at the Guidhall in Abingdon on Monday at 7:30pm. LibDem Evan Harris' majority was 7683 in 2005.

Deputy Editor

Stevenage selection

In a postponed selection, local man and Party Agent Stephen McPartland was yesterday selected to fight Stevenage, another seat with a Labour majority of just over 3000. Tracey Crouch was his only opponent in the final round after Maria Hutchings withdrew.

Deputy Editor

Brandon Lewis gets Great Yarmouth

Selected from the shortlist last night.

Brandon, 35, is leader of Brentwood Borough Council and is a Company Director of a family business. The seat has a Labour majority of just over 3000.

Antony Little, a local candidate on the shortlist, has reacted gracefully.

Deputy Editor

Sean Fear: An open letter to Ali Miraj

"Dear Ali,

As you will recall, I and other members of Hertsmere Conservative Association worked closely with you at the last election, in Watford, and were tremendously impressed with your hard work and commitment.  Watford is a seat where the Conservative presence in local government has almost disappeared, and so to come as close as you did to winning it was a real achievement.  Although I disapprove of the A List in principle, I was pleased you got on it, and looked forward to seeing you win a seat off Labour or the Liberal Democrats at the next election.

So it was with huge dismay that I read the article about Witham on your blog, and have heard your subsequent interviews. 

You consider that you have been unfairly treated by comparison with white male candidates.  Consider, you have been placed on the A List, ahead of many people who are just as well-qualified, and have done just as much for the Party, as you have.  You have been privileged.  It is a matter of fact that white, male candidates have been much less likely to be placed on the A List, than either women, or ethnic minority candidates.  Are you seriously going to argue that you have been worse treated than suitably qualified white male candidates who have been denied the opportunity to apply for target seats, by being excluded from the A List?

You have implied that you are only interested in fighting safe Conservative seats, rather than marginal seats.  This is astonishing.  Most people on the Candidates’ List would jump at the opportunity to fight the target seats that have selected candidates, so far.  Indeed, the vast majority of seats that have chosen candidates to date have been target seats, rather than Conservative seats, for the very sensible reason that they wish to have candidates in place at an early stage.  The vast majority of these target seats were held by the Conservatives in 1992, and many of them were reckoned to be very safe, prior to the 1997 defeat.  With the Party leading in the polls, and with the right candidate, I have no doubt that many of these seats could be safe seats once again. 

Sometimes, candidates get lucky, and are chosen for a safe seat almost immediately.  It is far more common, however, for a candidate to take many years to get chosen for a winnable, let alone, safe, seat.  Michael Howard, for example, first fought a no-hope seat in Liverpool in 1966.  It was not until 1983 that he was elected for Folkestone & Hythe.  Very many able people never get chosen at all, or are chosen in bad years for the Conservatives, and so fail to make it into Parliament.  So far, you have had nothing to complain of.

I am sure that if you are prepared to fight a target seat, then you will be chosen for somewhere that is a realistic prospect.  But if you insist on only seeking a safe Conservative seat, if there is such a thing these days, you will have a very long wait indeed.

Yours sincerely,

SEAN FEAR,
Chairman, Hertsmere Conservative Association."

Charlotte Leslie selected for Bristol NW

Even in 1992 the seat was held by the Conservatives by just 45 votes, but after some boundary changes Bristol North West now has a notional Labour majority of just 1075. Charlotte works for David Willetts and used to swim competitively.

Deputy Editor

Martin Vickers selected for Cleethorpes

Martin Vickers beat Alan Lockwood (Sedgefield PPC in 2005) in the Cleethorpes final this evening. Martin is a Councillor on the local council of North East Lincolnshire and fought the seat last time, leaving Labour with a 2642 majority.

Deputy Editor

Will Associations live to regret Bernard Jenkin's departure?

Pasted below is the text of Bernard Jenkin's letter of resignation to David Cameron.  It is clear that elements in CCHQ wanted him out but Bernard was offered a junior frontbench position instead in yesterday's reshuffle - which he refused.

In Bernard's letter he notes that increasing the number of women candidates has been achieved without "compromising the right of constituency associations to make the ultimate choice about who shall be their candidate."

There is a fear that Bernard Jenkin was the one key figure within the candidates' set-up who consistently defended the freedoms of Conservative Associations.  With modernisers Francis Maude and John Maples in full charge of the process there must be a risk that even less care will be taken with the autonomies that Associations have traditionally enjoyed.

FULL TEXT OF BERNARD JENKIN'S RESIGNATION LETTER TO DAVID CAMERON

"Rt Hon David Cameron MP
Leader of HM Official Opposition

Following our meeting this morning, and having served you in my present role for the all-important first year of your leadership, I am writing to confirm that I think this is the right time for me to move on.  You kindly offered a most interesting shadow minister of state role, but having served on the Opposition front bench for nearly ten years, mostly in the Shadow Cabinet, I would prefer to return to the back benches.  I will enjoy supporting you in the House of Commons and devoting more time to my constituents.

It has been a great privilege to work with you, Francis Maude, Shireen Ritchie and Gareth Fox over this past year as your Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party responsible for Candidates.  It has also been a huge and controversial challenge, but we are succeeding in the objective you set at the outset of your leadership.  The nomination of priority candidates and the revision of constituency procedures have dramatically increased the number of women and British minority ethnics being selected in target and Conservative held seats.

I regret that this is hard on some of the hard-working and loyal men on the Candidates List who are not priority candidates, but we have made progress without changing the Constitution of the Party and without compromising the right of constituency associations to make the ultimate choice about who shall be their candidate.  The approach adopted is both modernising and yet respects that fundamental Conservative principle.  On this principle rests the independence of Conservative MPs, who are free to be representatives of their constituents and of the national interest, rather than mere party delegates in Parliament.  At the meeting of the Convention in October, I was able to reassure constituency chairmen that this principle remains sacrosanct and that the new system can only work by consent and cooperation.

The present system remains fundamentally based on merit, in accordance with your speech last year.  Every woman candidate can be proud that she has been selected in competition with the best male candidates we have.  This demonstrates attitudes in the party are genuinely being transformed, and this has contributed to the transformation of the Party’s standing amongst women.  All-women shortlists have achieved no such transformation in the Labour Party, and the Liberal Democrats have yet even to address the paucity of women amongst their MPs.

We have succeeded in drawing in some really fantastic new women candidates who deserve to be Conservative MPs.  I will certainly continue my support for potential women and BME candidates, and for Women2Win which I co-founded with Theresa May and Brooks Newmark. 

I wish you and John Maples as my successor well.  He inherits a wonderful and devoted team who deserve every thanks for their very hard work.

BERNARD JENKIN MP"

Candidate suspended for 'racist email'

After Liberal Democrat complaints that Wiltshire Tory councillor Ellenor Bland had been circulating a 'racist' poem via email (Daily Mail), Central Office has suspended Mrs Bland from the candidates' list.  Mrs Bland fought Swansea West at the last General Election.

Told that the poem had been posted on his blog, Boris Johnson MP noted: “It is an utterly dreadful poem and I condemn it unreservedly. Hundreds of people post material on to the site and I had absolutely no idea it was there.”

Shortlist for Yarmouth

This from the Eastern Daily Press:

1. Antony Little (stood against Charles Clarke in Norwich South in 2005)
2. Kay Mason (stood in Norwich North in 2001)
3. Brandon Lewis
4. Jackie Doyle Price.

Devon North candidates

Either local businessman Philip Milton or A-lister Hannah Parker will be selected to fight Devon North. The selection will be on November 16th in the form of an open primary.

Lib Dem MP Nick Harvey has a majority of just under 5000.

Deputy Editor

Bury North open primary

From the Bury Times:

"The Conservatives need a swing of around three per cent to take the seat from Labour's David Chaytor. He has held the seat since 1997, with a majority at last year's General Election of 2,926 votes.

continued...

There are three candidates for the selection.

Simon Baynes (46), managing director of a UK investment bank. He lives in Powys and was Conservative candidate for Montgomeryshire in 2005.

David Nuttall (44), a solicitor and former councillor. He lives in Bury and contested the Bury North constituency last year.

Alex Williams (31), a chartered accountant who lives in Hale, Cheshire. He is a councillor in Trafford and was the Parliamentary candidate for Bury South in 2005."

The selection is on November 11th at Holy Cross College, starting at 1.30pm. If you are a local you can apply to attend via the website or email.

Cllr Michelle Wiseman was selected for Bury South in July.

Update: You can now read about the candidates on the Bury Conservatives website

Deputy Editor

South Derbyshire shortlist

Heather Wheeler (PPC for Coventry South in 2001 and 2005)
Emma Moffett (Businesswoman and voluntary worker)
Sharon Buckle (East Midlands European candidate in 2004)
David Brackenbury (Local candidate, businessman, Derby South PPC in 2005)

Deputy Editor

Burton select Griffiths

A-lister Andrew Griffiths was selected from the shortlist to fight the marginal seat of Burton (Lab majority of 1421) in an open primary last night.

Deputy Editor

Witham shortlist

The new seat of Witham comprises elements of four former seats and is a notional safe seat with a Conservative majority of approx 7000. Most of the current shortlist, to be trimmed on Monday, is as follows:

James Brokenshire (MP for Hornchurch)
Geoffrey Van Orden (Eastern Region MEP)
Howard Flight (Former MP for Arundel and South Downs)
Julia Manning (Health professional, Bristol East PPC in 2005)
James Cleverly (Lewisham East PPC in 2005)
Priti Patel (Nottingham North PPC in 2005)
Iain Dale (Norfolk North PPC in 2005)
Dominic Schofield (Battersea PPC in 2005)
Ali Miraj (Aberavon PPC in 2001 and Watford PPC in 2005)
Sarah Candy (Businesswoman and Essex County council cabinet member)
Kit Malthouse (Former Deputy Leader of Westminster Council)
Giles Inglis-Jones (former soldier and PPC for Ashfield, now HR and Development Director at CCHQ) * Added 4/11/06
Simon Walker (media company executive and former member of the Downing Street Policy Unit) * Added 4/11/06

Charles Elphicke (CPS Research Fellow, St. Albans PPC in 2001) and local man Kevin Bentley (Colchester PPC 2005) are also in the running, but unlike the others I don't believe they are on the A list. Anne McIntosh (MP for Vale of York) and Tim Collins (former MP for Westmorland & Lonsdale) didn't make it.

Update 7/11/06: The list has narrowed to seven...

James Brokenshire
Charlie Elphicke
John Glen
Kit Malthouse
Julia Manning
Geoffrey van Orden
Priti Patel

8/11/06: East Anglian Daily Times story on the shortlist and Ali Miraj comments

Deputy Editor

Final four for Watford

Two A-listers - Richard Evans and Mimi Harker - will contest Watford with Ian Oakley and Jeremy Brier on 16th November.

Andrew Percy wins Brigg & Goole selection

Hull councillor Andrew Percy won the Brigg and Goole selection last night - beating Julie Moody.

Ian Cawsey held Brigg and Goole with a majority of 2,894 at the last General Election.

Race to challenge Ruth Kelly is down to two

An open primary (to be decided) selection on Thursday 9th November will decide which Tory takes on Ruth Kelly at the next General Election.  The race for the Bolton West selection will be between A-lister Susan Williams, leader of Trafford Council, and Stephen Ogden, a Bolton Wanderers-supporting 'local candidate'.