Sir Patrick Cormack is expected to win a vote of confidence of all local Tories in his continuing as South Staffordshire's MP. The result will be announced on Friday.
He has been interviewed by his local Express & Star newspaper about the saga that began when his executive officers voted for his deselection:
"I have tried very hard not to be angry. I have tried to be relaxed and behave normally when I have talked to people who I know jolly well have tried to put the knife between my shoulder blades. I have just had to grin and bear it."
"I had been led to believe my reselection would be a formality and I thought that would be the case because nobody has ever criticised the way I did the job either in the constituency or at Westminster. I went to the first selection meeting last February thinking there would be no problem."
Sir Patrick also explains why he was reported as threatening to stand as an independent:
"I am a loyal Conservative who has been proud to take the Conservative whip for the past 37 years and wish to continue to do so. But I do not regard myself as the Member of Parliament for the South Staffordshire Conservative Association. I am the Member of Parliament for South Staffordshire - and I think that attitude is at the root of my present problem. I do what I think is right for my constituents regardless of who they supported at the last election and if that doesn't always accord with party policy then tough luck."
