ConservativeHome's Seats & Candidates blog

Richard Ottaway facing WINS confidence vote in Croydon South tonight

9.15pm update:

A well-placed source reports that the meeting was attended by about 260 members and that Mr Ottaway won the vote, which was conducted by secret ballot with no figures announced. I gather that Mr Ottaway had called the meeting himself in order to discuss the issues raised over his use of parliamentary allowances and seek a fresh mandate from his association.

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A meeting has just started in Croydon South where MP Richard Ottaway is the subject of a confidence motion in the wake of Expenses-gate.

The motion reads:

"That this general meeting of Croydon South's members of the Croydon Central and South Conservative Federation has confidence in its Member of Parliament, Mr Richard Ottaway MP".

There is more detail to the background in Mr Ottaway's local paper here.

As and when I get a result, I will post it here.

Jonathan Isaby

Dudley North selection stopped by CCHQ after association refuses to implement female quotas

After this morning's story about how CCHQ is reducing the power of party members in the forthcoming candidate selections, here is news of another example of an association being stopped from proceeding as it wanted to during a selection.

On Saturday 18th July, 12 candidates had been due to be interviewed in Dudley North, but they all received an email on the evening of Thursday 16th from the association chairman, Martin Duffield, explaining that "following a meeting today with Gareth Fox (Candidates Department) and John Maples (Party Vice-Chairman) we have been informed that we cannot proceed with the interview process".

The reason was that the Dudley North association had opted to interview nine men and three women, in contravention of the rule stating that there should be a 50:50 male:female ratio throughout the process.

The association had taken the view that since only eight of the 44 applicants were women, to interview six of them seemed somewhat excessive and discriminatory towards the 36 men who had applied. Instead, they sought to interview the best twelve applicants, who happened to be nine men and three women.

But CCHQ refused to allow the process to continue although, according to the association chairman, it did not intervene to stop the process until five days after it had been sent the list of names, meaning that the candidates for interview had very limited notice of the change of plan.

Final confirmation of the abandonment of the process came in an email from Gareth Fox on July 21st, in which he simply said that "unfortunately the Dudley North Parliamentary selection will not now go ahead in this tranche and will be re-advertised at a later date".

Martin Duffield tells me that he is "bemused" at the turn of events and that he feels the association has been treated "shabbily", not least because they are yet to be given any official notice of the new selection rules revealed by ConservativeHome this morning, which will presumably apply to Dudley North. He said that the local party was "desperate to get started".

The previously selected candidate stood down at the beginning of March, but the selection was delayed until after the local and European elections. This further delay will mean that a candidate will not have been in place for most of this year in a seat which is 106th on the Conservative target list and held by Labour minister Ian Austin with a notional majority of 4,106.

Jonathan Isaby

Pickles and CCHQ gain unprecedented power over shortlists for autumn selections

I was alerted earlier this week to the fact that the Party Board had taken some decisions about that most controversial of issues: candidate selection. Here is an excerpt of the summary of the Board meeting of July 20th distributed to members of the National Conservative Convention by its chairman, Jeremy Middleton:

 

Intrigued as to what changes have been agreed, I have been making enquiries, culminating in a conversation with party chairman, Eric Pickles, yesterday and have established that since the Board met on July 20th, the candidates' committee has also met and Board members have since participated in a conference call where the following measures appear to have been agreed:

"Free spirits" among the likely new intake of Conservative MPs

Here is the latest in a series of lists categorising some of those standing as candidates in seats which are either notionally Conservative or appear on paper in the top 200 target seats for the Conservatives at the next election.

Whilst it is a subjective list, I have sought to identify some of those who might be regarded as "free spirits" among the likely new intake - those whose tendency for independence of thought or taking robust political positions suggests that they won’t be the easiest to whip into line if elected:

Bob Blackman (Harrow East)
Diana Coad (Slough)
Richard Cook (East Renfrewshire)
Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones (Chippenham)
Mark Formosa (Taunton Deane)
Zac Goldsmith (Richmond Park)
Gordon Henderson (Sittingbourne and Sheppey)
Maria Hutchings (Eastleigh)
Pauline Latham (Mid Derbyshire)
Paul Maynard (Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
Karl McCartney (Lincoln)
David Nuttall (Bury North)
Mark Reckless (Rochester and Strood)
Alec Shelbrooke (Elmet and Rothwell, pictured)
Janice Small (Batley and Spen)

Yesterday we listed those who have already served as a local councillor within the constituency they aspire to represent in Parliament.

Jonathan Isaby

Wham! Leah Fraser takes out full page advertisement to slam Angela Eagle MP on expenses

This advertisement from Conservative candidate for Wallasey Leah Fraser is, I think, the most feisty attempt yet by a candidate to hold an MP accountable for their (mis)use of expenses.  The advert appears in full colour in the latest edition of the Wirral Globe.

Click on the image to enlarge.

Tim Montgomerie

The future Conservative MPs who have already represented their consituents as a local councillor

Here is the latest in a series of lists categorising some of those standing as candidates in seats which are either notionally Conservative or appear on paper in the top 200 target seats for the Conservatives at the next election.

No fewer than 51 candidates currently represent (or have previously represented) part of their constituency on their local council (at a district/borough/county level). 

We previously published a separate list of council leaders in the likely next intake of MPs

NB This is discounting a further ten or so who have represented an area very close by and others who have served on town or parish councils.

Deirdre Alden (Birmingham Edgbaston, right)
Peter Aldous (Waveney)
Stuart Andrew (Pudsey)
Tim Archer (Poplar and Limehouse)
Ron Bell (Blackpool South)
Andrew Bingham (High Peak)
Mark Bowen (Feltham and Heston)
Antony Calvert (Morley and Outwood)
Rehman Chishti (Gillingham and Rainham)
Diana Coad (Slough)
Alan Cullens (Chorley)
Nigel Dawkins (Birmingham Selly Oak)
Peter Duncan (Dumfries and Galloway)
Michael Ellis (Northampton North)
Kevin Foster (Coventry South)
Mike Freer (Finchley and Golders Green)

Labour MP in ultra-marginal Dartford to step down

Howard Stoate, MP for Dartford since 1997, has announced today that he will not be seeking re-election at the next general election. Dr Stoate says in his statement that he does not feel post-Expensesgate that he would be able to continue doing some work as a GP whilst remaining an MP and that he therefore has taken the decision not to seek re-election.

This a boost to Conservative candidate Gareth Johnson (pictured), who fought Dartford in 2005, losing then by a mere 706 votes. He now requires a swing of 1% to gain the seat, having been reselected in October 2006. He recently wrote the Diary of a PPC feature for Conservative Home about his campaign to win the seat at his second attempt.

Jonathan Isaby

Luton South's Conservative candidate says voting for Esther Rantzen would risk letting Labour back in through the back door

Esther Rantzen has confirmed she will be running for Parliament in Luton South at the next election, despite the fact that sitting Labour MP Margaret Moran - who came under fire for her use of housing allowances to fund repairs to a home in Southampton - will not be contesting the next election.

Conservative candidate Nigel Huddleston (pictured) has fired off the following statement

"While I welcome Esther Rantzen's continuing interest in Luton as it widens the choice offered to voters, I hope Lutonians will consider very carefully how to maximise the impact of their vote at the next general election.  People will soon have the chance to get rid of this useless, discredited Labour Government.  The only way to guarantee change is to vote Conservative and put David Cameron in Downing Street.  A vote for any other party or candidate will let Gordon Brown off the hook and risks giving us five more years of Labour.

"That Ms Rantzen continues to be so interested in Luton - where she has no apparent links and even though Margaret Moran is standing down - has surprised many Lutonians.  If you're going to stand as an anti-sleaze candidate surely it would make most sense to stand against an actual wrongdoer.  They are hardly in short supply!  As a high profile marginal seat, close to London, Luton South must be a tempting ‘soft’ target for Independent candidates - but it is disappointing that Ms Rantzen has chosen not to target her celebrity against a sitting abuser - as she originally indicated.

"I myself have played no part in the current shenanigans and am as angry about the abuses as everyone else.  I am involved in politics for what I can contribute, not for what I can get out of it.  I already spend every spare minute working for the people of Luton and I’ll still be campaigning on their behalf long after the current media frenzy has died down and the TV cameras have disappeared."

Nigel will be writing next week's PPC Diary in order to expand on the positive campaign he is fighting to bring change to Luton South and the country.

Jonathan Isaby

Diary of a PPC: Hornsey and Wood Green's Richard Merrin begins working with Haringey's first Conservative councillor for seven years

Each week a different PPC provides us with an insight into life as a candidate and gives us a flavour of their own campaign and interests. If you are a candidate and are keen to be featured, please email Jonathan Isaby.

This week’s diary is written by Richard Merrin, the recently selected candidate for Hornsey and Wood Green. It was a Conservative seat until 1992, when it was won by Labour, but it was gained by the Liberal Democrat Lynne Featherstone in 2005.

Monday 20th July
Whoever said that the summer months meant that there would somehow be a slow down in work was clearly not living on the same planet as the majority of us.

Yes, business is busy, which for a small businessman like myself is critical especially given the state of the economy. But as I prepare for the week there are two overriding political issues. At a national level this is the week of the by-election in Norwich North, at the local level it is the first full Council meeting in Haringey with a Conservative councillor after an absence of seven years.

I spend the morning at work, however by lunchtime it is clear that the rest of the day needs to focus on how we work with our new councillor – the former Mayor of Haringey who has only just defected to the Conservatives – and what should our tactics be at the Civic Centre tonight. Emails, calls and meetings dominate. I know that my role here is to build up the Conservative presence and this defection has delivered just that but it needs nurturing, building on and growing.

Tory women are less interested in dirty tricks and backstabbing but "dull men" are preferred by party leaders

So says, Theresa May MP and Nadine Dorries MP.  Both quotes appear in an article in The Sunday Times.  Inspired by Chloe Smith's victory Isabel Oakeshott and John Oliver profile the new generation of Tory women...

Number of Tory women MPs set to increase to 50 plus: "As the men who fell victim to the expenses scandal depart the political scene, the Tory benches are set to be repopulated by talented women in their twenties and thirties. For the strategists who surround Cameron, it will be the moment when the Tories shed their old image as the “nasty party” and emerge as a political movement which genuinely reflects 21st-century Britain... "According to figures compiled by ConservativeHome, the Tory blog, 13 of the 17 female Tory MPs are seeking re-election; 10 women are standing in notionally “safe” Conservative seats; 31 women are contesting seats which are in the top 116 targets the party needs to win to get a Commons majority; and 18 women are standing in winnable seats. Jonathan Isaby, co-editor of the website, calculates that this means more than 50 women are likely to be sitting as Tory MPs if Cameron forms a government. The figure could rise to 60 or more, the bigger the swing the party achieves. If that happens, it will be because of Tory organisations such as Women2Win, a campaign group to elect more Conservative women to parliament."

Women are more interested in getting things done says Theresa May: "Theresa May, [Chloe] Smith’s campaign manager and shadow work and pensions secretary, said the Commons could “look and feel very different” after the next election. “There will be greater emphasis on what I call the new politics. Women politicians are less interested in dirty tricks and backstabbing. They are more interested in the policies and getting things done.”"

Male MPs are all clones says Nadine Dorries: "Nadine Dorries, the outspoken MP for Mid Bedfordshire, warned her future colleagues: “The difference between male and female MPs is that male MPs are all clones whereas the woman are all individuals. No two female Conservative MPs are alike. “It’s true that leaders of all political parties prefer to promote dull men over interesting women. It’s safer. Women tend to be more passionate and they [the men] don’t know how to handle that.”"

Labour MPs spread rumours about Chloe Smith's sexuality: "On Friday Cameron spoke about Labour’s “utterly despicable” campaign in Norwich. He was apparently referring to ministers’ claims about Tory cuts, but rumours about [Chloe] Smith’s sexuality had been whispered by Labour activists during the campaign. The party’s literature repeatedly pointed out how Chris Ostrowski, its candidate, was married and how he “fell in love” in Norwich. For the record Smith was, until recently, in a relationship with a male Tory staffer."

Full article here.

Jackie Doyle Price's task in Thurrock is made easier as Andrew Mackinlay announces he will step down

8.30pm Update: Jackie Doyle-Price has issued the following statement:

"Naturally I have been determined to win in Thurrock but whatever our political differences I have always had considerable respect for Andrew MacKinlay as a committed Parliamentarian.  I wish him a long and happy retirement."

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Jackie Doyle-Price has been PPC for Thurrock for over two years and her attempt to gain the seat from Labour at the next election (a task for which she requires a swing of 6.5%) looks like it will be a little easier this evening.

Iain Dale has the scoop that Andrew Mackinlay, the Labour MP for the Essex seat since 1992, has decided to step down at the next election.

Andrew Mackinlay is hard-working, well-respected and independent-minded in equal measure and will be a loss to the House of Commons. But his departure means that Jackie will not have a popular incumbent to oppose and overturning that notional Labour majority of 5,358 would now appear more do-able than ever.

Jonathan Isaby

An almanac of statistics and historical comparisons relating to the Norwich North by-election

The full result is on the site here, but below are some statistics and historical comparisons relating to the Norwich north by-election:

1. Chloe Smith has won the seat from Labour with a majority of 7,348 with 13,591 votes and a 39.5 per cent vote share.
2. Labour came second with a 18.2 per cent share and 6,243 votes.
3. Labour lost 70 per cent of their vote from the 2005 general election.
4. The swing from Labour to the Conservatives was 16.5 per cent, nearly as high as the swing at the Crewe & Nantwich by-election (17.6 per cent).
5. This is more than twice as big as the swing from Labour to the Conservatives in the 1978 Ilford North by-election (7 per cent), which preceded the Conservatives 1979 general election victory.
6. It is of the same scale as the swing from the Conservatives to Labour in the 1997 Wirral South by-election (17 per cent), which preceded Labour's 1997 landslide general election victory.
7. Since 1950, when the seat was created, Norwich North has had a Labour MP for 45 of the last 59 years, holding in difficult years such as 1959, 1970 and even 1979. (It was held by the Conservatives between 1983 and 1997).
8. The turnout of 45 per cent is higher than the average turnout in the 36 by-elections held since 1997 (42.1 per cent) and better than 23 of those by-elections, including Sedgefield, Ipswich, Bromley & Chislehurst, Leicester South and Brent East.
9. This is only the second time the Conservatives have won a by-election from Labour in 27 years (the others being Crewe & Nantwich in 2008 and Mitcham & Morden in 1982).
10. Last year, Conservatives won Crewe & Nantwich from Labour on a 17.6 per cent swing.
11. The last Labour gain from the Conservative before their 1997 general election victory was in Wirral South (1997). Labour won the seat on a 17 per cent swing (and won the subsequent general election on a 10 per cent swing).
12. The last Conservative gain from Labour at a by-election before their 1979 general election victory was in Ilford North (1978). Conservatives won the seat on a 7 per cent swing (and won the subsequent general election on 5.5 per cent swing).
13. If the swing of 16.49 per cent attained at Norwich North were replicated at the general election , the following cabinet ministers would lose their seats: Jim Murphy, Alistair Darling, Ben Bradshaw, Jack Straw, John Denham, Ed Balls, Ed Miliband and Douglas Alexander.

Tories quietly hopeful of victory in Norwich North

Pictured are Eric Pickles with Jeremy MIddleton, Emma Pidding, Charles Barwell and other leading members of the voluntary party.

Yesterday we Twittered a request for predictions for the result of the Norwich North by-election.  The mean average of Tweeted predictions and those left on Facebook was a 3,301 Conservative majority.  Turnout will be low.  Every canvasser has met a mixture of disinterest and some disgust from local people.  One hustings had to be cancelled during the campaign after the number of candidates on the stage outnumbered the voters in the hall.  We should get a declaration at lunchtime today.

Any victory will bring a smile to the face of Stephen Gilbert, head of field campaigning at CCHQ and who has been more-or-less living in Norfolk since Ian Gibson MP announced he was standing down.  It is Stephen's birthday today and a win will be a perfect reward for his efforts and those of his team.

Labour, after being inactive during the campaign, poured activists into the seat yesterday.  They swamped the core Labour wards of the constituency in a last ditch effort to turn out a respectable vote.  There is surprise within the Tory campaign that Labour spin doctors didn't wait until yesterday to lower expectations but were rubbishing their prospects as early as Wednesday morning.

The Liberal Democrats are still hoping for a second placed finish and, under the direction of local Liberal Democrat MP, Norman Lamb, have fought a very negative campaign - first against the Greens and then against Chloe Smith personally.  CCHQ is convinced that, post expenses-gate, negative campaigning is no longer so effective and voters want more practical reassurance about your own candidates' credentials.  Tories believe that the direct mailed letter from David Cameron to every voter and the list of 'ethics pledges' from Chloe Smith were important positive elements of the Tory campaign.

The Tory campaign cannot be faulted for effort.  It has been massive, culminating in yesterday's delivery of customised pledge letters to every Tory pledge by 6am.  A number of CCHQ staffers have been permanently based in Norwich and David Cameron has visited five times since the date of polling day was was announced and once before.  MPs have also played a massive role.  Theresa May MP has been Chloe Smith's chief adviser and campaign spokesman.  Running operations in different parts of the constituency were local MPs Henry Bellingham, Richard Bacon, Keith Simpson and Christopher Fraser.  Also very dedicated have been Brooks Newmark, Michael Fabricant from the whips' office and local hero Baroness Shephard.

Scores of other MPs have been making regular campaign trips to the seat, rolling up their sleeves and getting down to work. Whilst it is potentially invidious to single anyone out, it was especially impressive to see former leader Michael Howard in Norwich on Wednesday: he made the four-hour round trip to Norwich from London to do a two-hour stint of eve-of-poll delivery and door-knocking without any fanfare, but just turning up at the campaign office, taking a bundle of leaflets and getting on with the job.

If, as is hoped, the Conservatives win today there will not be the raw excitement of Crewe and Nantwich but there will be much comfort at CCHQ that their campaigning methods and literature have been proved to be effective again and also at the unity of the campaigning efforts of the professional staff, volunteer activists and particularly MPs.

Jonathan Isaby and Tim Montgomerie

Julie Kirbride should put party first and resist suggestions that she return

The Daily Telegraph reports that certain members of her local Conservative Association want Julie Kirkbride MP to reverse her 28th May decision to stand down at the next General Election.

She should resist those calls.  Some of the hysteria of the expenses-gate period may have ended but the public remains turned off politicians.  Norwich North has provided lots of evidence on that front.

Ms Kirkbride could probably win readoption from her local Association if she insists upon it and then survive an independent challenge at the General Election from a Martin Bell-style anti-sleaze candidate.  What she will be doing, however, if she pursues that route will be causing damage to other Tory candidates.  Her own local fight against an anti-sleaze candidate would earn lots of unwanted national media attention and will undermine David Cameron's message that he has cleaned up the parliamentary party.  The Conservatives will lose votes across the country and that might be the difference for some candidates between winning and losing.

There are currently thirteen plum Tory seats seeking candidates.  Although the last retirement announcement was on 27th June (David Maclean MP) half-a-dozen more departures are likely this year.  Some MPs have made the decision to go but want to put some months between their announcement and expenses-gate so that they can enjoy a "clean resignation".  Others are undecided and, almost inevitably, some MPs won't make a final decision until the very last moment.  We'll probably get to 20 to 25 resignations by General Election time.

Tim Montgomerie

Cameron and Osborne lead massive polling day operation in Norwich North

By 6am this morning every household that had pledged to vote Conservative had received a leaflet from Chloe Smith's huge Norwich North team.  Tory MPs including David Cameron and George Osborne were part of the dawn hours delivery team in a sign that the Conservative Party is not taking a single vote for granted.  There were 1,200 different versions of the leaflet; each bearing the name of the street:

The leaflet then emphasises the need to send a message to Gordon Brown and Chloe's local credentials.

The bar chart that started the campaign  - showing the Tories as the main competitor to Labour - also features.

We are not expecting a result until lunchtime tomorrow (Friday).  There'll be no counting of votes tonight.

Click on graphic to enlarge.

Tim Montgomerie

The "thinkers" and "policy wonks" of the likely next intake of Conservative MPs

Who are the Oliver Letwins and David Willetts of the future? Here is a selection of names - by no means exhaustive - who, based on their previous and current work for think-tanks, policy groups and the like, are the ones most likely to be coming up with the pamphlets containing the policies of the future…

Harriet Baldwin (West Worcestershire)
Nick Boles (Grantham and Stamford)
Karen Bradley (Staffordshire Moorlands)
Damian Collins (Folkestone and Hythe)
Charlie Elphicke (Dover)
George Freeman (Mid Norfolk)
Zac Goldsmith (Richmond Park)
Damian Hinds (East Hampshire)
Charlotte Leslie (Bristol North West)
James Morris (Halesowen and Rowley Regis)
Jesse Norman (Hereford and South Herefordshire, pictured)
Mark Reckless (Rochester and Strood)
Fabian Richter (Bath)
Chris Skidmore (Kingswood)
Philippa Stroud (Sutton and Cheam)

Jonathan Isaby

Leicester Tories choose candidates to take on Patricia Hewitt's successor, Peter Soulsby and Keith Vaz

Leicester Conservatives met last night and chose the following three General Election candidates:

• Leicester South - Ross Grant (pictured) (blog) - Peter Soulsby has a projected majority of 3,725 over the Liberal Democrats
• Leicester West - Celia Harvey - Patricia Hewitt (who is stepping down) has a projected majority of 7,246.  Celia Harvey, 46, who was born in Leicester has had a successful lecturing career and has several academic publications to her name in the field of innovation and entrepreneurship. She has had a parallel career as an Officer in the Territorial Army. She is married to John, who is a Town and District Councillor and they have a seven year old daughter called Rosie.
• Leicester East - Jane Hunt - Keith Vaz enjoys a projected majority of 17,696.  Jane lives in Leicestershire and is a Borough Councillor at Charnwood Borough Council. She is married with two children. She has campaigned for the Conservatives for many years and is looking forward to working with the people in Leicester East, on issues such as the NHS, crime, employment amongst young people in the city, and on-street parking.

Best wishes to all three.

Tim Montgomerie

Local government leaders in the likely next intake of Conservative MPs

Here is the latest in a series of lists categorising some of those standing as candidates in seats which are either notionally Conservative or appear on paper in the top 200 target seats for the Conservatives at the next election.

Below is a list of the ten current or former council leaders hoping to take their place on the green benches (although not necessarily in the constituency in which they are standing):

1. Bob Blackman (Harrow East; ex-Brent Council leader)
2. Kevin Davis (Yeovil; ex-Kingston Council leader)
3. Mike Freer (Finchley and Golders Green; Barnet Council leader)
4. Lorraine Fullbrook (South Ribble; ex-Hart Council leader)
5. Kris Hopkins (Keighley; Bradford Council leader)
6. Marcus Jones (Nuneaton; Nuneaton and Bedworth Council leader)
7. Brandon Lewis (Great Yarmouth; ex-Brentwood Council leader)
8. Henry Smith (Crawley; West Sussex County Council leader, pictured)
9. Heather Wheeler (Derbyshire South; South Derbyshire Council leader)
10. Susan Williams (Bolton West; ex-Trafford Council leader)

> Previous entry in this series: Four ex-MEPs and five other parliamentarians hope to become Tory MPs

The ConHome coach hits the campaign trail in Norwich North

The ConHome coach trip to the Norwich North by-election saw a party of 29 of us meeting yesterday at 9.30am at St James's Park tube in order to make the two and a half hour journey up to Norfolk, during which we watched the first two hours of the classic drama, House of Cards.

We were greeted on arrival by Theresa May, who is campaign manager, and our candidate, Chloe Smith.

After a quick briefing, we were off the coach and being ferried to various parts of the constituency armed with literature.

It was testament to the slick operation on the ground - being overseen by Stephen Gilbert - that we were out on the campaign trail within five minutes of arrival.

Diary of a PPC: Birmingham Northfield's Keely Huxtable reports on a week in the life of a twenty-something PPC with a one-year-old baby

Each week a different PPC provides us with an insight into life as a candidate and gives us a flavour of their own campaign and interests. If you are a candidate and are keen to be featured, please email Jonathan Isaby.

This week’s diary is written by Keely Huxtable, candidate for Birmingham Northfield. It is currently held for Labour by Richard Burden, who will be defending a notional majority of 7,879, meaning that Keely requires a swing of 9.96% to gain the seat. She introduces us to the constituency and herself thus:

"Northfield is a fairly densely populated constituency in the South West of Birmingham, made of four wards: Northfield, Longbridge, Weoley and Kings Norton, which has just been added in the recent boundary changes. It is largely white working or middle class with some areas within the top 5% of the Government's indices of deprivation, but also some very wealthy area, all within a few miles of each other. It is famously the old home of MG Rover and the constituency is still suffering from the fallout of the collapse with areas of high unemployment. I am lucky enough to have a full set of hardworking Conservative Councillors in the constituency, with all 12 out of 12 - the last two seats being gained in 2008.

"I was selected to fight Northfield in May 2007, aged 25. I followed the debate about younger PPCs with interest, being number 9 on ConservativeHome’s list of the 10 youngest PPCs, and hope to address some concerns and points that were made concerning younger PPCs, especially with regards to life experience. I have spent the vast majority of my life in South West Birmingham; it is very much my home. I have always been very proud of being a true Brummie, even my distinguishable accent which I vow never to lose. I am not from a political family by any means but my parents taught me the importance of voting from a young age and this combined with playing a very active role in my local community from a similar age led me to wanted to play a more active role in society. I married my wonderful and eternally patient husband Tim, who is a Councillor in neighbouring Bournville Ward, in 2007. I left college at 18 with four A-Levels and went straight to work, being lucky enough for my employer to sponsor me to do an Open University degree of which I am very proud. I graduated in May last year, three weeks before my daughter Katie was born. She is the light of my life and gives a deeper purpose to every leaflet I push through a door and a new conviction when speaking to people. I don’t want her to grow up in this world as it is now, fighting for change became so much more personal as soon as she was born. I took voluntary redundancy in April of the year to enable me to look after Katie and run my campaign full time."

Here's Keely's Diary of the Week...

Nick Bourne gives priority to women and ethnic minority candidates for 2011 elections to Welsh Assembly

The A-list may have died in the UK as a whole but positive discrimination in favour of women and ethnic minority Conservatives is alive and kicking in the Welsh Party.

Writing on his blog Nick Bourne AM, Leader of the Conservatives in the Cardiff Assembly, has defended his belief in positive discrimination.  He is making four key proposals:

1. "The establishment of a priority list of candidates for target seats, with specific emphasis on getting more women and people from ethnic minorities into winnable positions. This list will be drawn up from approved candidates by the Welsh Conservatives’ board of management."
2. "Local associations in target seats to ensure at least half of those candidates put forward for final selection to be women or from an ethnic minority background."
3. "Mentoring and training for candidates, and also for local associations."
4. "For regional lists the first available vacancy should be a woman or ethnic minority candidate. Where there is no incumbent the top spot on the regional list should go to a woman or ethnic minority candidate."

Aware of likely opposition from rank-and-file members he concludes:

"I understand some members of the party may be uncomfortable with my proposals. But let me reassure them that I do not support the introduction of all women shortlists as Labour has done to their cost.  Local associations must still be allowed to choose the candidate they think will best serve their interests. What I am proposing is giving local associations a helping hand in making the Welsh Conservative Party more representative and more diverse.  We have allowed the other parties in the Assembly to steal a march on us in terms of the representation of women and people from ethnic minorities. I believe it’s high time we played catch-up."

Tim Montgomerie

We still have empty seats on this Sunday's coach to Norwich North

There are a dozen places left on the ConservativeHome coach to Norwich North THIS Sunday (19th July).

Please use the donations button below to pay £15 to reserve your place on the coach. It will be leaving from outside St James's Park tube station at 9.30am on Sunday morning.

Eric Pickles - Party Chairman - should be joining us for lunch during the day.

As is now traditional on the ConHome by-election coach there'll be a free Krispy Kreme doughnut for every traveller!

The coach will be back in London (traffic permitting) for 8pm.

WE HAVE DECIDED TO CANCEL THE CONHOME THAMES CRUISE FOR 23RD JULY SO THAT THOSE WANTING TO HELP OUT ON POLLING DAY IN NORWICH CAN DO SO. THOSE WHO HAVE BOOKED WILL BE RECEIVING A REFUND OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS.

Four ex-MEPs and five other parliamentarians hope to become Tory MPs

Here is the latest in a series of lists categorising some of those standing as candidates in seats which are either notionally Conservative or appear on paper in the top 200 target seats for the Conservatives at the next election.

Below is a list including the two former MPs hoping for a return to the Commons and others seeking to become MPs, having served in the European Parliament or one of the other devolved bodies:

1. Bob Blackman (Harrow East; ex-London Assembly)
2. Angie Bray (Ealing Central and Acton; ex-London Assembly)
3. Alun Cairns (Vale of Glamorgan; Welsh Assembly)
4. Peter Duncan (Dumfries and Galloway; ex-MP)
5. Jonathan Evans (Cardiff North; ex-MP and ex-MEP)
6. Chris Heaton-Harris (Daventry; ex-MEP, pictured)
7. Alex Johnstone (Aberdeenshire West and Kincardine; Scottish Parliament)
8. Eric Ollerenshaw (Lancaster and Fleetwood; ex-London Assembly)
9. Neil Parish (Tiverton and Honiton; ex-MEP)

> Previous entry in this series: Thirty-three lawyers in the next potential intake of Conservative MPs

Thirty-three lawyers in the next potential intake of Conservative MPs

Here is the latest in a series of lists categorising some of those standing as candidates in seats which are either notionally Conservative or appear on paper in the top 200 target seats for the Conservatives at the next election.

Below is a list of all those who have worked as solicitors or barristers:

1. Helen Baker (Bridgend)
2. Steve Barclay (Cambridgeshire North East)
3. Jake Berry (Rossendale and Darwen)
4. Jeremy Brier (Luton North)
5. Robert Buckland (Swindon South)
6. Joanne Cash (Westminster North, pictured)
7. Rehman Chishti (Gillingham and Rainham)
8. Jeff Clarke (Wirral South)
9. Alberto Costa (Angus)
10. Suzy Davies (Brecon and Radnorshire)
11. Michael Ellis (Northampton North)
12. Charlie Elphicke (Dover)
13. Jonathan Evans (Cardiff North)
14. Helen Grant (Maidstone and the Weald)
15. Matthew Groves (Plymouth Moor View)
16. Zahid Iqbal (Bradford West)
17. Trevor Ivory (Norfolk North)
18. Robert Jenrick (Newcastle-under-Lyme)
19. Gareth Johnson (Dartford)
20. Jessica Lee (Erewash)
21. Brandon Lewis (Great Yarmouth)
22. Nicky Morgan (Loughborough)
23. Anne Marie Morris (Newton Abbot)
24. David Nuttall (Bury North)
25. Guy Opperman (Hexham)
26. Mark Reckless (Rochester and Strood)
27. Simon Reevell (Dewsbury)
28. Jason Rust (Edinburgh South West)
29. Antoinette Sandbach (Delyn)
30. Anna Soubry (Broxtowe)
31. John Stevenson (Carlisle)
32. Jason Sugarman (Lewes)
33. James Wharton (Stockton South)

> Previous entry in this series: Potential members of the new intake coming from an ethnic minority

Andrew Stephenson's PPC Diary: Eleven months until Pendle can vote Labour out!

This week’s diary is written by Andrew Stephenson, candidate for Pendle in Lancashire. Andrew is one of the youngest candidates in a top 50 target seat and was selected in September 2006 in the first tranch of selections.
 
Pendle is the most marginal seat in Lancashire having been held by the Conservatives until 1992 and is currently held by Labour’s Gordon Prentice MP with a majority of 2,180.  The seat was created in 1983, but is almost the same as the former seat of Nelson and Colne, a classic marginal constituency, with the addition of the small Yorkshire towns of Barnoldswick and Earby.  Pendle has some unusual political characteristics with a Labour MP, Lib Dem run borough council, and a strong BNP presence.  There have been no boundary changes and Andrew requires a 2.65% swing to take the seat.   You can get in touch with him through his Facebook Group or website.
 
Monday 6th July
I have the day off work to focus on politics and I spend the morning at Whitefield Infant School and Nursery Unit where I’m a school governor.  The school is based in the most deprived part of Pendle (Whitefield Ward) and will soon have to be rebuilt because increasing roll numbers are putting a huge strain on the current facilities.
 
I then head out for a few hours canvassing in the sun with Christian Wakeford, one of my CF volunteers.  We head to a part of Nelson that is not currently represented by Conservative Councillors, focusing on areas where we are most likely to find people in on a mid week afternoon.
 
Whilst canvassing I meet a wheelchair user for whom the council have provided a disabled parking bay outside their home, but not a dropped kerb.  I also met a woman who now cannot use her shower after the Housing Association - whilst making “improvements” to her home - installed a new shower so far up the wall that she can barely reach the controls.  The sad fact is these types of issues come up all the time whilst I’m canvassing and sometimes a five hour canvassing session can generate a small mountain of casework.
 
I finish the day by attending the Colne Neigbourhood Action Group (NAG) where housing issues and anti-social behaviour are high on the agenda.  I hear a group of women from part of the town make a heartfelt plea for the council, police and other agencies to do more to address the drug problems that are destroying their neighbourhood.
 

Potential members of the new intake coming from an ethnic minority

Here is the latest in a series of lists categorising some of those standing as candidates in seats which are either notionally Conservative or appear on paper in the top 200 target seats for the Conservatives at the next election.

Below is a list of all those who come from an ethnic minority or have one parent coming from an ethnic minority:

1. Annesley Abercorn (Hazel Grove)
2. Kemi Adegoke (Dulwich and West Norwood)
3. Shaun Bailey (Hammersmith, pictured)
4. Rehman Chishti (Gillingham and Rainham)
5. Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones (Chippenham)
6. Helen Grant (Maidstone and the Weald)
7. Zahid Iqbal (Bradford West)
8. Priti Patel (Witham)
9. Adeela Shafi (Bristol East)
10. Alok Sharma (Reading West)
11. Deborah Thomas (Twickenham)
12. Paul Uppal (Wolverhampton South West)

> Previous entry in this series: Members of the potential new intake who have fought the same seat twice or three times

Totnes Tories shortlist three candidates

The BBC has their names:

"The candidates are Nick Bye, Sara Randall Johnson and Dr Sarah Wollaston. Mr Bye is Torbay's mayor, Ms Randall Johnson leads East Devon District Council and Dr Wollaston is a GP."

They will now be selected by a postal ballot of all local voters.

Members of the potential new intake who have fought the same seat twice or three times

Here is the latest in a series of lists categorising some of those standing as candidates in seats which are either notionally Conservative or appear on paper in the top 200 target seats for the Conservatives at the next election.

Below is a list of the nine candidates who are contesting the same seat for the third successive general election (or a renamed seat close to its previous incarnation after boundary changes):

1. Ken Andrew (Carshalton and Walllington)
2. Neil Carmichael (Stroud)
3. Oliver Colvile (Plymouth Sutton and Devenport)
4. Nick de Bois (Enfield North)
5. Robert Halfon (Harlow, pictured)
6. Karen Lumley (Redditch)
7. Mark Reckless (Rochester and Strood)
8. Henry Smith (Crawley)
9. Iain Stewart (Milton Keynes South)

Will you bring the Crewe and Nantwich magic to Norwich North?

Pictured: MPs Eric Pickles, Julian Lewis, David Gauke and Malcolm Moss.

Dear Chums,

These are momentous and historic times in politics – an economy in turmoil, a delusional Prime Minster who actually believes 0% is an increase, and a country desperate for change.

David Cameron has shown leadership, and that he is prepared to take difficult decisions.  David’s handling of the expenses issue has been in marked contrast with Brown’s dithering.

I don’t have to remind you of the fun we had last year in Crewe and Nantwich and in Henley.  Or the impact that defeating Labour in a safe seat in a northern stronghold had on the Labour Party and Gordon Brown’s floundering administration.

Well it is time to get back in the saddle, and ride to the next showdown in Norwich.  There were many reasons why Edward Timpson secured the first Conservative gain in a by-election for more than 25 years, but I have no doubt that a key component was down to people like you.

Members of the potential new intake who have had a parent in national politics

Here is the latest in a series of lists categorising some of those standing as candidates in seats which are either notionally Conservative or appear on paper in the top 200 target seats for the Conservatives at the next election.

Below is a list of all those who are the children of politicians or peers past or present:

1. Zac Goldsmith (Richmond Park; son of late Referendum Party leader, Sir James Goldsmith)
2. Ben Gummer (Ipswich; son of John Gummer MP)
3. Caroline Nokes (Romsey and Southampton North; daughter of former MEP, Roy Perry)
4. Mark Pawsey (Rugby; son of former MP, James Pawsey)
   Annunziata Rees-Mogg (Somerton and Frome; daughter of Lord Rees-Mogg)
5. Jacob Rees-Mogg (Somerset North East; son of Lord Rees-Mogg)
6. Laura Sandys (Thanet South; daughter of Lords Duncan-Sandys)
7. Julian Sturdy (York Outer; son of Robert Sturdy MEP)
8. Robin Walker (Worcester; son of Lord Walker of Worcester, pictured).

> Previous entry in this series: The journalists and television presenters in the likely next intake of Conservative MPs