ConservativeHome's Seats & Candidates blog

Most women in top MEP slots received fewer votes than male rivals

CCHQ has just published the number of points that each MEP candidate was awarded in last week's elections.  It reveals that few women would have been awarded top slots if the preferential system had not been in place:

In London Marina Yannakoudis was awarded the highest place for non-incumbents although three men - JP Floru, Warwick Lightfoot and Bob Seely - all won more support from the grassroots.

In the South East Therese Coffey and Sarah Richardson beat all men in the voting.

In the Eastern region Vicky Ford was awarded the highest place for non-incumbents even though John Flack won more support from members.

In the East Midlands Emma McClarkin was awarded second place even though Rupert Matthews received a better vote from members.

In the West Midlands Anthea McIntyre finished ahead of all men in terms of grassroots support.

In Yorkshire and the Humber Fleur Butler was ranked ahead of Matthew Bean and Nick Burrows although they both received more support from the grassroots.

In the North East Barbara Musgrave was awarded second place although Richard Bell enjoyed more support.

In the North West Jacqueline Foster and Fiona Bruce won more support than any of the non-incumbent men in the selection.  Fiona Bruce has apparently dropped out after very narrowly finishing behind Jacqueline Foster.

In the South West Julie Girling received slightly less support than Ashley Fox but was ranked above him.

In Wales Dr Kay Swinburne was awarded top place although Evan Price won more support from the grassroots.

In Scotland Belinda Don and Helen Gardiner both beat all men in the voting.

IN CONCLUSION: Supporters of the preferential ranking for women will say that these results vindicate the system.  Without it they say far fewer women would be in positions where they could be elected as MEPs. Critics will say that candidates less respected by the grassroots have prospered and will wonder if this system has really produced the candidates best qualified to be MEPs.

We do not yet know if CCHQ will publish turnout and spoilt ballots data.

Will CCHQ publish the full results of last week's MEP selections?

John Maples MP has replied to ConservativeHome's email of Friday promising that "on Monday we will return to the issue of publishing more information."  The email was sent on Saturday, by Monday he means today.

We hope that Mr Maples, returning officer for these elections, will publish (for all regions) the kind of information that ConservativeHome has received for the South Eastern regional rankings (remembering that lower scores/ points mean a higher ranking):

1. Daniel Hannan MEP: 24,509
2. Richard Ashworth MEP: 29,567
3. Nirj Deva MEP: 35,054
4. James Elles MEP: 44,120
5. Therese Coffey: 31,274
6. Sarah Richardson: 40,515
7. Richard Robinson: ??
8. Tony Devenish: ??
9. Nina Kaariniemi: 54,295
10. Marc Brunel-Walker: 60,909

What these results show is that Therese Coffey and Sarah Richardson won the top places below that of the incumbent MEPs by winning most support of members.  They didn't get their 'top-of-the-non-MEPs-slots' by fulfilling the quotas imposed by CCHQ.

What we don't have for the South East is turnout data and number of spoilt ballot papers.  Let's hope we get that data for all regions as well today.

The full story of MEP candidate selection needs to be written...

Conservative HQ has rarely managed an election process so aggressively as it has managed this round of MEP candidate selections.

We are compiling a for-the-record list of the restrictions that CCHQ placed on the process that ended yesterday with the results of regional rankings...

The exclusion of the whole membership from vetting incumbent MEPs, restrictions on hustings, the preferential treatment of women candidates so that they have leapfrogged men who won more votes, the confusing nature of the voting process that has led to large number of ballot papers being spoilt...

Please email any observations to us so that we can produce a comprehensive record. All submissions will be treated in strictest confidence.

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Request for full transparency of MEP selection ballot

Following anecdotal reports of very high numbers of spoilt ballot papers Tim Montgomerie, Editor of ConservativeHome, has emailed John Maples MP, Returning Officer for the ballot, requesting full transparency:

"Dear John,

It was good to see you at last week's Mainstream meeting. I'm sorry we didn't get a proper chance to talk.

ConservativeHome has been publishing the rankings for MEP candidates today.

As the Returning Officer for the Elections I would be grateful if you could confirm that data for turnout and the number of spolit ballot papers will be published.  I've received reports of very high numbers of spoilt ballot papers.

Best wishes,

Tim"

We'll let you know when we get an answer.

5.30pm: Don't miss Charles Tannock MEP's comment below.

MEP selection results today

We'll be posting as they are announced - region by region as we understand it.

As well as the ranking results it will interesting to see levels of participation (turnout) and number of spoilt ballot papers - assuming CCHQ announce these.

2.10pm South East rankings:

1. Dan Hannan MEP
2. Richard Ashworth MEP
3. Nirj Deva MEP
4. James Elles MEP
5. Therese Coffey
6. Sarah Richardson
7. Richard Robinson
8. Tony Devenish
9. Nina Kaariniemi
10. Marc Brunel-Walker

2.50pm South West rankings:

1. Giles Chichester MEP
2. Julie Girling
3. Ashley Fox
4. Michael Dolley
5. Don Collier
6. Zehra Zaidi

2.50pm East Midlands rankings:

1. Roger Helmer MEP
2. Emma McClarkin
3. Rupert Matthews
4. Fiona Bulmer
5. George Lee

3pm Scotland rankings:

1. Struan Stevenson
2. Belinda Don
3. Helen Gardiner
4. Donald MacDonald
5. Gerald Michaluk
6. PJ Lewis

3.25pm West Midlands rankings:

1. Phil Bradbourn MEP
2. Malcolm Harbour MEP
3. Anthea McIntyre
4. Michael Burnett
5. Mark Spelman
6. Eveleigh Moore-Dutton
7. Dan Dalton

4.15pm Eastern rankings:

1. Geoffrey van Orden MEP
2. Robert Sturdy MEP
3. Vicky Ford
4. John Flack
5. Jonathan Morgan
6. Claire Strong
7. Claire Whelan

4.30pm Wales rankings:

1. Kay Swinburne
2. Evan Price
3. Emma Greenow
4. David Chipp

4.30pm London rankings:

1. Charles Tannock MEP
2. Syed Kamall MEP
3. Marina Yannakoudakis
4. Jean-Paul Floru
5. Warwick Lightfoot
6. Graham Postles
7. Alison Sproule
8. Ian Twinn

5.35pm North West rankings:

1. Rt Hon Sir Robert Atkins MEP
2. Den Dover MEP
3. Sajjad Karim MEP
4. Jacqueline Foster
5. Alex Williams
6. Peter Wilding
7. Gregory Morgan

5.35pm Yorkshire & Humber rankings:

1. Edward McMillan-Scott MEP
2. Timothy Kirkhope MEP
3. Fleur Butler
4. Matthew Bean
5. Nick Burrows
6. Glynis Frew

5.35pm North East rankings:

1. Martin Callanan MEP
2. Barbara Musgrave
3. Richard Bell

The four Tory held seats needing a candidate

In case you have missed them, there are now four seats currently held by the Conservatives that will soon be selecting:

• Bournemouth West: We learnt on Tuesday that Sir John Butterfill is standing down.  Sir John leaves a majority of 2,608 over the second-placed LibDems.
• Castle Point: Following Bob Spink's departure from the parliamentary party, this seat will be selecting.  It has a majority of 8,201.  Mr Spink's threat to stand as an independent will complicate any candidate's chances, however.
• Fylde: Michael Jack MP made his surprise announcement to stand down at the next election last weekend.  With a majority of 10,008 it is the safest of this quartet.   
• Old Bexley and Sidcup: This seat became vacant after Derek Conway lost the Conservative whip.  It has a projected Tory majority of 9,460.

Sir John Butterfill to stand down

Sir John Butterfill, MP for Bournemouth West for 25 years, has told his Association that he intends to stand down at the next election.

Speaking to his local paper, Sir John said:

"I would have stayed had there been an election last autumn and was selected to do so, by which time I would be in my 70th year. If I stayed on for five years I'd be 75 so that was probably a bit long. I've now got seven grandchildren with an eighth about to arrive at the end of this month. I'd like to see a bit more of them than I have done with my own children."

The seat has a notional Conservative majority over the LibDems of 2600.

Click continue to see the Party's synopsis of his career...

Charlotte Leslie is the new Tory voice on The Guardian's website

Charlotte Leslie - our candidate for Bristol North West - is representing the Conservatives over at The Guardian blog.

Her latest post focuses on post offices.  'Post offices are more British than an oath of national allegiance' she declares:

"Post offices and the communities they support are as British as the Proms. It may not sound glamorous, it may not be the icon you are looking for, it may not provide many inspirational photos for the cover of your next emotively-entitled white-paper, but a word to the government - if you're really serious about Britishness, cut the ceremony, stop the post-office cull. Now."

We'll certainly be linking regularly to her posts and wish her the best of luck.

Other Tories have gone on to great things after being the voice of Conservatism at The Guardian.  In the pre-blog era, David Cameron used to fulfil Charlotte's role!

Plum seat becomes vacant as Michael Jack announces retirement

Michael Jack, the much-respected MP for Fylde, has unexpectedly announced he will be standing down at the next General Election.

His seat will be hugely attractive to those candidates still in search of a seat.  It has a  projected Tory majority of 10,008.

Mr Jack told the Blackpool Gazette:

"By the next General Election, I will have served for 22 or 23 years, which is a long stint. For the time you are in office, you are a guest and you hold your seat as the steward.  I believe in the view that guests shouldn't out-stay their welcome and I think the time should come now where I should give up this seat and someone else should come along and take over the mantle from me.  There are other things I would like to be able to do and I think you need some good years to enjoy the rest of your life, in terms of what you want to do. And I want time to spend time with my wife Alison. People forget that Parliamentary wives are deprived of their husbands for long periods of time.  It has been a very difficult decision to have to make. I have loved every minute of doing the job and my commitment to the job will be undiminished until the next election."

More from the Blackpool Gazette here.

The MEP candidates who didn't reply to ConservativeHome's questionnaire

Most members should have recieved their ballot papers now (hopefully accompanied by details of the right candidates!). Please do remember to send them off in time.

We are grateful to those candidates that took the time to answer our questions and put themselves up for scrutiny. We've had a lot of positive feedback from members who have found them to be the only way they were able to judge candidates aside from the bland template sheets sent out with ballots.

For your information, the candidates we weren't able to get answers from were:

West Midlands: Mike Burnett and Mark Spelman.

North West: Jacqui Foster and Simon Baker.

North East: Sebastian A Leslie, Richard Bell, Barbara Musgrave and Gary Richardson.

Candidates in Scotland were only sent the questions towards the end of last week, and we still haven't been able to send them to those in Yorkshire.

Restanding MEPs who failed to supply answers:

• Philip Bradbourn
• Giles Chichester
• Den Dover
• James Elles
• Malcolm Harbour
• Sajjad Karim
• Timothy Kirkhope
• Edward McMillan-Scott
• Robert Sturdy
• Philip Bushill-Matthews (retiring)

We'll be providing a pdf of all the answers later for you to download and email around.

North East candidates

What would you bring to the role of MEP? 

Emma Moore: I'm in my late twenties, and am fed up with people saying that younger people aren't interested in politics.  I have spent so much time shouting at the television over the stupid things that we put up with from Europe and Labour, I have decided to try and do something about it.  This is not something I take lightly.  Although I am a District Councillor, I do not profess to know everything about how the 'system' works, and I would hope that actually some people would find this refreshing.  I will always be honest in my opinion, but practical in my response.

Barbara Musgrave: I will fight to make the EU transparent, open and accountable. It needs demystifying. People have a right to know and say how their money is spent and to suffer less regulation. My job and party political background mean that I have the skills to fight for this and if I am elected the second MEP represent the North East robustly. 

Miles Briggs selected to oust Ming Campbell

Miles faces a projected LibDem majority of 12,571.

Susan Wade Weeks adopted for York Central

Chichester councillor Susan Wade Weeks has been adopted as the Tory candidate for York Central, projected Labour majority of 10,118.