Philip Allott was selected last night for Halifax - projected Labour majority of 3,438.
11am update: This from the Halifax Courier:
"TORY CANDIDATE CHOSEN
THE Conservatives have chosen a former mayor of Knaresborough to fight the Halifax Parliamentary seat at the next General Election.Philip Allott, a law graduate, runs his own marketing business and lives in Knaresborough, where he was on the town council for nine years and leader of Harrogate District Council.
He was chosen as a Calderdale prospective Parliamentary candidate at a special meeting of the Halifax Conservative Association last night.
The open hustings-style event at the Tower House Hotel, Pye Nest, was attended by about 40 people which pitched Mr Allott against Lucille Nicholson, a self employed property developer, who lives at Chester-le-Street, County Durham.
Mr Allott and his wife, Sandra, have two children.
He was a candidate for Brent North in the 2001 General Election and came a close second to Labour's Ruth Kelly in Bolton West in 2005.
He told the meeting that he would immerse himself in the job and come to live in Halifax.
"I am not a complete outsider. As a youngster, I helped my father who brought racing donkeys to Halifax which raised thousands of pounds for local charities.
"I come to Halifax with a fresh pair of eyes not locked into local problems and issues of the past," he said.""