This in from CCHQ press office:
"Following a decision by the Board of the Party, the following additional process will now be incorporated into the Selection Guidelines for Conservative held and Target seats. This will take immediate effect.
"An association may choose to select from the full list of approved Conservative Candidates. In this case there will be a requirement that at each stage of the selection process at least 50% of the candidates being considered are women. If a constituency association makes this choice, the vacancy will be advertised to the full list. However, a constituency remains free to choose to interview only priority candidates in which case they should make this known to the Regional Director. A constituency can then choose to use either the primary or 'big event' selection process in either of these scenarios."
John Maples, Deputy Chairman (Candidates) said:
"The Priority List has helped us to make significant progress and so far nearly 40% of selected candidates are women but we can still do better. The new option toughens up the rules on women, and allows more candidates to apply for seats in their regions. Associations would need to agree that half the candidates at each stage of their selection process will be women. In such cases, the vacancy will be advertised to the full Candidates List. The Priority List will remain an option for Associations. If the party Board approve this proposal, then in future Associations will be offered this option.""
