There are already ten Conservative-held seats seeking a new candidate for the next General Election. There will be many more by the time this process has ended. It's vital these plum seats are filled with good candidates. All being well they will be Conservative MPs for a long time.
One MP has suggested to me that some of these seats should be filled by candidates already selected for much harder-to-win seats. This MP believes - correctly - that many candidates would not have settled for their current seats if they had known that the current vacancies would arise. Rather than say 'tough luck' to them his suggestion was that they be released from their current obligations and be freed to apply for the Tory-held seats. We need their talents and ability, is his view.
I don't support this. It's hard on the adopted candidates but there's something not quite right about resigning the seats and people who have put their trust in them. I also predict that ConHome readers will be impressed by the Best Of The Yet To Be Selected list that we'll be publishing soon. I'm grateful to all the suggestions emailed to me. There are enough good unadopted candidates to fill the vacant seats.
Tim Montgomerie
