ConservativeHome's Seats & Candidates blog

Any Conservative MP retiring after midnight will leave their local party members having to choose from a CCHQ shortlist of just three candidates

As of today, the following 30 MPs elected as Conservatives (most of whom are retiring, but several of whom may seek re-election under a different banner) have already had new Conservative PPCs selected in their place:

Michael Ancram - Devizes - - > Claire Perry
Peter Atkinson - Hexham - - > Guy Opperman
Tim Boswell - Daventry - - > Chris Heaton-Harris
Angela Browning - Tiverton and Honiton - - > Neil Parish
Sir John Butterfill - Bournemouth West - - > Conor Burns
Derek Conway - Old Bexley and Sidcup - - > James Brokenshire MP
David Curry - Skipton and Ripon - - > Julian Smith
Quentin Davies - Grantham and Stamford - - > Nicholas Boles
Christopher Fraser - Norfolk South West - - > Liz Truss
Paul Goodman - Wycombe - - > Steve Baker
Douglas Hogg - Sleaford and North Hykeham - - > Stephen Phillips
John Horam - Orpington - - > Jo Johnson
Michael Howard - Folkestone and Hythe - - > Damian Collins
Michael Jack - Fylde - - > Mark Menzies
Jacqui Lait - Beckenham - - > Bob Stewart
Sir Michael Lord - Suffolk Central and Ipswich North - - > Daniel Poulter
Andrew Mackay - Bracknell - - > Philip Lee
David Maclean - Penrith and the Border - - > Rory Stewart
Humfrey Malins - Woking - - > Jonathan Lord
Michael Mates - Hampshire East - - > Damian Hinds
Malcolm Moss - Cambridgeshire North East - - > Steve Barclay
Andrew Pelling - Croydon Central - - > Gavin Barwell
Sir Michael Spicer - Worcestershire West - - > Harriett Baldwin
Bob Spink - Castle Point - - > Rebecca Harris
Anthony Steen - Totnes - - > Sarah Wollaston
Ian Taylor - Esher and Walton - - > Dominic Raab
Sir Peter Viggers - Gosport - - > Caroline Dinenage
Ann Widdecombe - Maidstone and the Weald - - > Helen Grant
Ann Winterton - Congleton - - > Fiona Bruce
Sir Nicholas Winterton - Macclesfield - - > David Rutley

And the following 6 MPs have announced they will stand down at the election, but in seats which are yet to select a new candidate:

Sir Patrick Cormack – Staffordshire South – Nominations closed on December 14th
John Gummer – Suffolk Coastal - Nominations yet to open
Robert Key - Salisbury – Nominations closed on December 14th
Julie Kirkbride - Bromsgrove - Nominations yet to open
Richard Spring – Suffolk West – Final taking place on January 30th
David Wilshire – Spelthorne - Final taking place on January 22nd

Additionally, there is Ryedale MP John Greenway who has been left seatless, having lost out in the race with Anne McIntosh for the newly drawn Thirsk and Malton constituency.

This all means that as of now only 163 existing Conservative MPs are set to seek re-election (taking into account the fact that John Bercow will now contest Buckingham as "Speaker seeking re-election", and that by-election victors Edward Timpson and Chloe Smith will be seeking re-election).

Here is the post from last month containing the responses of Conservative MPs to ConHome’s letter seeking an indication of whether they intended standing again or not.

Anyone who announces their intention to retire after midnight tonight will leave their association with a shortlist of three being imposed upon them.

Jonathan Isaby

John Gummer becomes the latest Suffolk MP to announce his retirement

Today the former Environment Secretary John Gummer announces that he will retire from the Commons as MP for Suffolk Coastal at the general election. He explains to the East Anglian Daily Times that he wants to dedicate himself to campaigning full-time on environmental issues:

““Copenhagen was a total disaster. Telephone conversations with colleagues throughout Europe convinced me that international action is needed if the calamity of climate change is to be avoided. My Suffolk Coastal constituency has 74 miles of coastline. That makes me doubly determined to do everything I can to stop a calamity happening. I feel passionately about the subject. This is the danger that most faces us and unless something is done, the world will be in real trouble.

“But if I am to concentrate fully on the environment, I cannot devote the time I would wish to my constituency. I fully intended to serve one more term as MP for Suffolk Coastal, but Copenhagen changed all that. I sincerely hope and believe that David Cameron will become Prime Minister next year with a large majority. However, if the Conservatives end up with just a small majority in Commons, the pressure will be on all his backbenchers to be full-time MPs, especially in the first year when legislation has to be carried.

“I realised I could not do both jobs well and therefore I have reluctantly told my constituency association that it must look for a new candidate.”

An MP in London between 1970 and 1974, he has represented his patch of Suffolk continuously since 1979, and follows fellow Suffolk MPs Sir Michael Lord and Richard Spring to become the latest of the county's Tory MPs to be standing down - with rumours persisting that Tim Yeo in South Suffolk may yet follow suit too.

Mr Gummer will bequeath a notional majority of 9,674 over Labour to his successor as Conservative candidate at the general election, with his son, Ben, already running in the neighbouring Ipswich constituency.

By announcing his decision before the end of the year, he has ensured that the Suffolk Coastal Conservatives will not have a shortlist of three candidates imposed upon them by CCHQ. Will there be any more retirements announced before tomorrow night?

Update:

Also speaking to the EADT, association chairman James Butler indicates a preference for a local candidate:

“John has been a magnificent servant of Suffolk and this constituency for 30 years. But circumstances change and I fully understand and appreciate the reason why he is leaving. I have called a meeting of officers for next week and we will put in place the selection process.

"But I sincerely hope that the list of candidates includes a lot of local people who wish to be considered. I do not mind men or women but we need to be able to select someone from Suffolk if that is what we have to do... There are a lot of people locally who would make excellent MPs and I am sure we should at least be able to interview them along with those on the national list."

Jonathan Isaby

It's probably best to use real local people in campaign literature!

Otherwise a local newspaper - or even the Daily Mail might be on your case:

"A Tory parliamentary candidate has been caught using a member of staff to pose as a constituent - in an election leaflet calling for honesty. The newsletter - titled 'Honesty on the Economy' - features prospective MP Jacob Rees-Mogg talking with a blonde woman on the streets of the Wansdyke constituency, in North-East Somerset.

The caption, also used on the North East Somerset Conservatives' website, simply refers to 'Jacob talking to a lady in Midsomer Norton'. However she is in fact Fiona Tyrrell, an employee from Rees-Mogg's London-based investment firm, Somerset Capital Management LLP."

Tim Montgomerie

Andrew Bridgen leads tributes to David Taylor MP

Andrew Bridgen (pictured), Tory candidate for Leicestershire NW, led Tory tributes yesterday to the sudden death of the constituency's Labour MP, David Taylor:

“I was saddened to hear of the death of David Taylor, who has been an excellent MP for North West Leicestershire and one of the most popular Parliamentarians in the country. He was committed to his work for local people and led our constituency in a positive direction. I admired him for standing up to the Labour party on issues that were not favourable to the district. As a Prospective Parliamentary Candidate myself, I understand just how hard he worked to represent the Constituency. David Taylor set an example in taking this district forward, something which the next MP – from whatever party he or she comes - must build on. My wife and I would like to send our deep sympathy to his family and friends for a loss that is especially poignant at this time of year.”

Mr Taylor was a committed churchgoer and Tory MPs with Christian backgrounds joined the public praise.

Mark Pritchard MP commented: "David was a true Parliamentarian. He was hard working, independent-minded, always on his feet in the Chamber, and was a real champion for pro-life and animal welfare issues - amongst the many other campaigns he fought so valiantly for. David did not shrink from his beliefs - even with the onslaught of fads, fashions, political correctness, and the Labour whips. He also held a deep Christian faith. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him. My thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends at this very sad time".

Nadine Dorries MP Twittered: "MPs phones buzzing with sad news re death of David Taylor MP. A man of principle with whom we all got along. Thoughts are with his family."

Mr Taylor was due to stand down at the next General Election and local councillor Ross Willmott had been selected to defend a projected Labour majority of 4,477. It is probably in Labour's power to delay the by-election so that it is not held until the General Election.

Tim Montgomerie

Chris Philp takes out giant billboard ads to remind voters that he fought to save local police stations in Hampstead and Kilburn

Chris Philp, the Conservative candidate in the newly-created three-way marginal of Hampstead and Kilburn has been fighting an energetic campaign to keep police stations open across the constituency.

And just in case voters were unaware of his efforts, he has taken out two giant billboard ads in Kensal Rise and outside West Hampstead tube station in order to make sure they know.

The ad campaign itself has prompted further publicity in the Camden New Journal. Chris Philp's Hampstead and Kilburn general election campaign website is at www.chrisphilp.com.

In the New Year, as the election approaches, I will be looking to intensify coverage of the campaigns being fought by Conservative candidates across the country, so please email me if you are a candidate and doing things which you'd like to share with ConHome readers.

Jonathan Isaby

Moray PPC resigns from Tory/Independent council administration to publicly challenge it over flooding protection

Today's Aberdeen Press and Journal carries news that the Conservative PPC for Moray, Douglas Ross, has stepped down from the coalition of Independents and Conservatives running Moray Council because he felt unable publicly to support all that it was doing.

Douglas - who will be standing against the SNP's Westminster leader, Angus Robertson, at the general election - remains a councillor, but his departure leaves the administration in a minority.

However, he insists that he was left with no option but to sit as a backbench councillor so that he could take issue with aspects of what the administration is doing:

“This is not a decision I have taken lightly, but over recent months I have found myself disagreeing with some of the decisions taken by the administration.

“A recent decision concerned flooding at Garmouth and Kingston.  I have been raising this issue in the flood alleviation sub-committee and with officers and I am clear that short term measures need to be put in place now to protect these communities from flooding and the misery it brings.  Despite my arguments the administration group felt that it could not allow a budget for these communities to be included in the report at Policy and Resources committee last week due to the financial pressures placed on the council.

"I appreciate the need for financial stringency in these difficult times - and, after all, the financial mess the country is in is hardly the fault of Moray Council. But I feel I have to put the needs of my constituents first and to have the freedom to speak out to propose alternative solutions."

Jonathan Isaby

Candidates selected for the two Oldham seats

News of two more recent selections from Greater Manchester, covering the two Oldham constituencies:

Oldham East and Saddleworth - Kashif Ali
According to the local association website: "Kashif was born, brought up and he continues to live in Oldham East and Saddleworth in the Higginshaw area... He works locally as a Barrister, was a former law tutor at the University of Manchester, and also sits on the Board of a national charity providing housing and support services for adults with mental health problems and learning difficulties". He is a former Deputy Chairman of the Manchester Conservative Federation.

Labour's Phil Woolas has a notional majority in the seat of 4,245 over the Liberal Democrats, with the Conservatives starting in third place with 17.8% of the vote.

Oldham West and Royton - Kamran Ghafoor
He is a former Labour councillor in Oldham (the youngest member of the council when elected in 2004) but narrowly failed to win a council seat as a Conservative in 2008. A graduate of Salford University, he is a businessman who owns several petrol stations and a number of properties. He says he is "just as proud to be British" as he is to be a Muslim and of his ambition to be the first Muslim MP for Oldham, he adds: "I see myself being a Member of Parliament representing Oldham, but not just representing the community here but representing Muslims worldwide in government."

Michael Meacher will defend a notional majority of 10,454 over the Lib Dems, although the Conservatives are less than 100 votes behind them in third place.

Jonathan Isaby

Julie Searle selected for Denton and Reddish

Following the selections of Rob Adlard and Seema Kennedy for Stalybridge and Hyde, and Ashton-under-Lyne respectively, the Conservatives in neighbouring Denton and Reddish have now selected their candidate for the general election.

Donning the blue rosette in the fight against Labour MP Andrew Gwynne will be Julie Searle. Julie has been a member of Adur council in Hampshire West Sussex since 2000, where she currently serves as Cabinet Member for Improved Customer Services. Her occupational background is in chemical engineering.

Gwynne is defending a notional majority of 13,128 over the Conservatives.

Hat tip: Tameside Eye

Jonathan Isaby  

Candidates selected for the two St Helens seats

Candidates have recently been selected for the two St Helens Seats.

They are:

• St Helens North - Paul Greenall A West Lancashire Councillor, where he is Portfolio Holder for Street Scene Management.
• St Helens South and Whiston - Val Allen A Parish Councillor in Warrington

Jonathan Isaby

Maria Caulfield selected for Caerphilly

Maria Caulfield - recently in the final six for Gosport - has now been selected to fight Caerphilly at the general election.

Maria has been a councillor in Brighton and Hove since 2007, when she gained a seat from Labour, overturning a 1,500 majority in the process. She is now Cabinet member for housing in Brighton and Hove and cites a particular interest in environmental issues. She also works part-time as a cancer research nurse at the Royal Marsden Hospital.

She said on her selection:

"I feel very proud to have been chosen as the Conservative Parliamentary candidate for for the wonderful constituency of Caerphilly. I have been made to feel so welcome by the association and I have pledged to them that I will do my very best to represent them."

Her Facebook campaign page is already up and running.

The seat has been in Labour hands since 1918 and the current MP, Wayne David, will defend a notional majority of 13,517 over Plaid Cyrmru, with the Conservatives starting in third place with 14.7% of the vote.

Jonathan Isaby

Rob Adlard selected to challenge James Purnell in Stalybridge and Hyde and Seema Kennedy selected for Ashton-under-Lyne

Two selections from the last few days that we have not yet registered took place in Tameside in Greater Manchester.

Firstly, Rob Adlard has been selected to challenge ex-Cabinet minister James Purnell in Stalybridge and Hyde. Manchester-based Rob - originally from the North East - is 34 years old and a freelance violinist. He is also chairman of the Longendale ward Conservatives in the constituency, where he would need a swing of 12% to overturn Purnell's notional majority of 8,455.

Meanwhile, Seema Kennedy has been chosen to stand in Ashton-under-Lyne, where Labour MP David Heyes will defend a notional majority of 13,199. She resigned as chairman of St Albans Conservative association after her attempt to deselect Anne Main failed earlier this year.

Hat-tips Eric Pickles and Tameside Eye

Jonathan Isaby

Steve Baker settles in to his new home in Wycombe and makes the most of Christmas events as he prepares to step into Paul Goodman's shoes

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. This is the last Diary of 2009 but if you are a candidate and would like to be featured in the New Year, please email Jonathan Isaby.

This week's diary is written by Steve Baker, who was selected on 31st October for Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, where Paul Goodman - who is joining ConservativeHome as Contributing Editor - is standing down at the election and bequeathing a notional majority of 7,597. Steve is a professional aerospace and software engineer whose career spans the Royal Air Force and a variety of software-related businesses, and is married to Beth, a general practitioner who will shortly be leaving the Royal Air Force. Steve is an Associate Consultant to the Centre for Social Justice and Corporate Affairs Director of The Cobden Centre, an educational charity for honest money and social progress. Steve finds that being PPC for Wycombe is "both more awesome and more magnificent than opening the door of an aeroplane in flight and jumping out".

Monday 14th December
We are now happily ensconced in High Wycombe, close enough to the M40 that I am developing my affinity for the M40 Chiltern Environmental Group and their aims. Aside from campaigning for Wycombe, I develop The Cobden Centre, which seeks to widen the debate on economics and society, so I spent the morning writing about the legal status of banking contracts, illustrating the peculiar status of demand deposits.

After reviewing the closure of Holywell Mead pool, I met Paul Goodman MP in Parliament to discuss local issues and Wycombe Hospital in particular. As Paul said recently, "no other single issue compares to it in terms of the interest, concern and anxiety it arouses."

Norsheen Bhatti, Andrew Large and James Rushton selected for Stoke seats

• Andrew Large has been selected for Stoke on Trent North, where he faces a projected Labour majority of nearly 14,000.
• James Rushton has been selected for Stoke on Trent South where he needs to overturn a projected Labour majority of 8,681.
• Recent LibDem defector Norsheen Bhatti has been selected for Stoke on Trent Central where the Tories are in a close third place behind the LDs in a seat with a projected Labour majority of over 9,000.

Julie Kirkbride abandons plan to keep her seat

It appears that Julie Kirkbride has finally taken the right decision and will not stand again as MP for Bromsgrove:

The much delayed search for her successor can now get underway.

Tim Montgomerie

11.16am: Only just noticed but Iain Dale had blogged on Ms Kirkbride's decision a little earlier.

Zac Goldsmith launches fightback

In a letter to tonight's Evening Standard Zac Goldsmith has hit back at the double hits that have unsettled his campaign to defeat Susan Kramer in Richmond Park.

The full text of his letter is below (our emphasis on the best line):

"Politics has been reduced to a game. Rivals are smeared, voters misled, and Parliament has too many careerists for whom winning votes is an end in itself. At the next election, I will be standing against an MP who has toed the party line an astonishing 99.2 per cent of the time.

Now, as a threat to this marginal Lib-Dem seat, I have become the target of an extraordinary smear campaign. I want to put the record straight.

The Lib-Dems claimed I avoided “millions” in tax because of my former non-dom status, which, despite reports, I relinquished before being approached by anyone. In fact, I have always chosen to be tax resident in the UK. My father created a trust that provides me with an income. It almost all comes to the UK where it is taxed at the full 40 per cent rate.

Their idea that trust ownership of my home leaves the taxman short makes no sense. When a primary home is sold, there is no Capital Gains Tax to pay. Not so the trust-owned home I occupy, if it is sold for a gain.

The latest claim is that I’ve injected £260,000 into my political campaign. In fact, I have merely registered the notional use of my office and two staff over nearly three years.

Life dealt me a generous hand; I chose to devote it to campaigning for what I believe in. I will continue to do so."

- Zac Goldsmith, Conservative parliamentary candidate for Richmond Park and North Kingston."

Hat tip to Paul Waugh.

Four candidates selected for the East Midlands "coalfield" seats

Rather like the City Seats Initiative, the Coalfield Seats Initiative has seen four candidates now selected for adjoining seats in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire which are not the strongest areas for the Conservatives. They are:

• Ashfield - Gary Hickton will take on former Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon, who has a notional majority of 10,370 over the Conservatives. The seat was won by the Conservatives at a 1977 by-election but reverted to type at the 1979 general election.
• Bolsover - Lee Rowley has the pleasure of taking on veteran Labour Left-winger Dennis Skinner, who has a notional majority of 19,260 over the Lib Dems - although the Conservatives are less than 100 votes behind them in third place.
• Chesterfield - Carolyn Abbott - an original member of the A  List - will fight Tony Benn's old seat which was gained by the Lib Dems on his retirement in 2001. Paul Holmes now has a notional majority of 2,733 over Labour, with the Conservatives in third place with 8.3% of the vote.
• Mansfield - Tracy Critchlow contests this seat which the Conservatives came within 56 votes of wining in 1987. Labour's Alan Meale now defends a notional majority of 13,776 over the Conservatives.

Jonathan Isaby

Zac Goldsmith may be able to contribute vast amounts to his own election campaign fund, but candidates must not be expected to follow suit

According to the indefatigable Paul Waugh in today's Evening Standard:

"Tory candidate Zac Goldsmith faced fresh controversy today after it emerged that he has spent more than a quarter of a million pounds of his own money on getting elected. The environmentalist has donated £260,000 since he was selected to fight the Richmond Park seat in 2007, according to the latest figures from the Electoral Commission... Virtually all of the money goes to office staff and “office costs”. The party says that Mr Goldsmith set up his own office in Richmond, separate to the local association's headquarters. The candidate employs two members of staff to help him campaign."

I don't have a problem with that, and I can't believe anyone is especially surprised that Mr Goldsmith, who is reportedly worth £200 million, has pumped some of his own money into his campaign. Furthermore, it has all been declared to the Electoral Commission in the usual fashion and he has done nothing improper (and before any asks, he has already set the record straight on his tax status).

However, what I would say is that there should never be an expectation and certainly no demand on the part of local Conservative associations around the country that candidates should be contributing a certain amount to campaign coffers. As ConservativeHome has previously reported, the costs of being a candidate already run into tens of thousands of pounds.

A good candidate is not necessarily a wealthy one. A wealth of life experience working at the coalface in a sink school, with a charity, or indeed literally at the coalface can be just as valuable to the party as hard cash, if not more so. As Tim lamented just last month, when it comes to diversifying the party's candidates' list, there has been too much emphasis on gender and race and not enough on social and working backgrounds.

None of that, however, is to denigrate the considerable abilities of Zac Goldsmith, for whom I will be voting as a constituent in Richmond Park next year. Whilst his views on the environment are not to everyone's taste,  this Platform piece which he wrote for ConHome during party conference week makes a compelling civil libertarian case for reducing the amount of state regulation in our lives. It is well worth reading if you missed it at the time.

Jonathan Isaby

The search for 100 Tory Peers re-opens

This time last year we began a search for one hundred Conservative peers. This was on the basis that if David Cameron is elected Prime Minister, he will have every right to increase the strength of the Tory benches in the Upper House, since the number of Conservative peers - 189 out of a House of 706 - is now at an all-time low, a point Tim recently re-iterated.

In the first phase of the series we reached just over halfway and the list of those already nominated is below (Click here to see all the nominations).

We are planning to publish the second phase of nominations in the New Year, so now we are again seeking your suggestions.

As before, if you would like to nominate someone, please email Jonathan Isaby with your suggestion, ideally including key arguments for the nomination as well as biographical information. The sources of nominations will be treated confidentially where requested.

Those already nominated in the series are:

Howard Flight; Richard Balfe; Charles Moore; Richard Evans; Mimi Harker; Rod Bluh; Ruth Lea; Algy Cluff; Frederick Forsyth; Robert Edmiston; Andy Street; Sir Tim Rice; Simon Wolfson; Andrew Roberts; Sir Simon Milton; Matthew Parris; Tony Caplin; Sir Desmond de SIlva; Sir Kenneth Bloomfield; Professor Karol Sikora; Brian Walden; Don Porter; Sir Graham Bright; Stuart Wheeler; Simon Mort; Lurline Champagnie; Dr Prem Sharma; Ruth Dudley Edwards; Sir Stephen Sherbourne; Patrick Nicholls; Patience Wheatcroft; Ashley Dearnley; Sir Jonathan Sacks; Edward Lister; Jill Kirby; Sir Reg Empey; John Marshall; Sir Robert Balchin; Dame Marion Roe; Stanley Johnson; Janet Daley; Mike Whitby; Nirj Deva; Dominic Lawson; Angela Knight; Sir Andrew Green; Michael Dobbs; Eamonn Butler; Stanley Fink; Michael Burleigh; Madsen Pirie.

The list includes, among others, a number of businessmen, thinkers, civic leaders, former MPs and senior party activists, all with their own areas of experience and expertise. Whilst some of those new entrants to the Lords would be working peers contributing from the backbenches, there will also be those appointed with a view to serving in a ministerial capacity. We also previously included a few small-'c' conservatives whom we would not expect to take the Conservative whip, but whose world view was deemed worthy of being heard in the House of Lords.

We look forward to receiving your nominations.

Jonathan Isaby

Luke Evetts selected for Ceredigion

Luke Evetts has just been selected to stand in Ceredigion at the general election.

According to wikipedia:

"Raised in the south of Ceredigion, Luke Evetts is currently living in Penparcau, Aberystwyth with his wife. Educated in Cei Newydd Primary School before attending Ysgol Gyfun Emlyn until 18, he recently graduated with a law degree from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth.

"As chair of the Aberystwyth Conservative Branch, he has also stood as a candidate for the Cei Newydd (New Quay) ward in the 2008 County Council Election, where he secured over a third of the vote. Luke Evetts is also an active member of Cadw Calon Aberystwyth, having started the successful petition to prevent overdevelopment in the historic town centre."

The Ceredigion constituency has a long history of Liberal/Lib Dem representation, although was briefly held by Labour in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and had a Plaid Cymru MP between 1992 and 2005, when Mark Williams regained it for the Lib Dems. He has a notional majority of 218 over Plaid Cymru, with the Tories in third place on 12.4% of the vote.

Jonathan Isaby

Claire Perry demonstrates that she has hit the ground running as Michael Ancram's successor in Devizes

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 Claire Perry, who was selected at the beginning of November for Devizes in Wiltshire, where Michael Ancram is standing down at the general election, bequeathing a notional majority of 12,259. Claire is married with three children and prior to her selection worked in the office of George Osborne, developing policy on jobs and value for money for the taxpayer. She says that the selection six weeks ago now seems "like a lifetime ago" and maintains it is a complete honour to have been chosen as Conservative candidate for "the most wonderful seat in Britain".

Monday 7th December
Drive up to Pewsey from South Wiltshire for my regular weekly meeting with Michael Ancram where he passes on as much information as he can and we plan our campaigns on local issues.  A big local problem is the lack of a primary care centre in Devizes (which was promised when the local hospital was partially closed) and I went to a very unsatisfactory “public consultation” on a proposed new site last Friday, so there much to discuss.  Set up three walkabouts for early in the New Year.  Michael has a huge personal following here and I am so fortunate to be working with him

I then head over to Chippenham to campaign for Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones whom I met last week.  To form a government we must win Chippenham and other marginals across the country and Wilfred is a fantastic candidate.  Deliver letters in the pouring rain with other stalwarts from my Association until it gets dark and then back to Devizes.  There is a public display of the Wiltshire Area plan in the Corn Exchange and I want to talk about the traffic and spatial impact of the new PCC in Devizes with the council bods – most unsatisfactory answers.  This new location is being rammed through and while it might make financial sense, there is no clarity on the numbers. 

Meet up with local councillors there (Cllr Mayes is in the photo with me here) and review the plans together.  I’m still in my wet weather campaigning gear and feel distinctly underdressed.  Rapid change in the loo of the Bear Hotel and then off to Marlborough for an evening meeting of the Marlborough Area Board, which is a brilliant forum for understanding the local issues, meeting local activists and being seen.  Drive up to London at 10pm, M4 shut so it takes hours.  Dog tired tonight.

Tuesday 8th December
Based in London today.  Write a letter to the local paper for Devizes called “Give us the Facts”.  The consultation over the location of a new Devizes Primary Care Centre is marked by a complete absence of facts and figures and is very reminiscent of what happened when NHS Wiltshire shut down the minor injuries unit at Savernake Hospital in Marlborough.  NHS Wilts, like most quangos, acts in a completely unaccountable manner and takes the public for fools.  Pick up the children from school which is sadly a very rare event.  Eliza announces that she needs 45 Christmas goodie bags for Holly House at school (of which she is Captain).  I respond that surely we should use the money to give an Oxfam goat called Holly to Africa and she gives me a withering look.  Dash out, cursing, to get sweets, cellophane and ribbon and organise a bag-making party.  Take five calls from candidates interested in Salisbury.

Nick Hillman's 'tips for getting selected'

Nick Hillman was selected yesterday for Cambridge.

I add my public congratulations to those Jonathan gave yesterday.

On his blog he has listed ten tips for 'getting selected' including...

and

Read all of Nick's tips here.

Tim Montgomerie

David McLetchie MSP charged with winning eleven Scottish seats for David Cameron

Scotland on Sunday reports that the Scottish Conservative Party is targeting eleven seats in the General Election, including that of the Chancellor, Alistair Darling:

1. Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale, David Mundell MP (our only current Scottish MP);
2. West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, Alex Johnstone MSP;
3. Angus, Alberto Costa;
4. Argyll and Bute, Gary Mulvaney;
5. Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk, John Lamont MSP;
6. Dumfries and Galloway, former Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland, Peter Duncan;
7. Edinburgh South, Neil Hudson;
8. Edinburgh South West, Jason Rust;
9. Perth and North Perthshire, Peter Lyburn;
10. East Renfrewshire, Richard Cook;
11. Stirling, Bob Dalrymple.

All candidates in these target seats are men.

Key to the Tory strategy is an attempt to paint the SNP as "ineffective" at Westminster.  An internal Tory poll poll of 1,000 Scottish voters found that 74% agreed that the SNP stood up for Scotland but was not effective when it came to Westminster.

David McLetchie MSP - tasked with coordinating the Scottish party's campaign - commented:

"If we get a confused election result it is going to be that much more difficult to pull the economy out of recession. Scots are voting to elect a British government and the only party that can provide an alternative to five more years of Labour government are the Conservatives."

Team Cameron have a high opinion of McLetchie and are considering putting him in the Lords to coordinate a Conservative government's relationship with Scotland should David Cameron become Prime Minister. Mr Cameron has already promised regular meetings with Annabel Goldie in those circumstances.

Recent polling suggested that the Tories still have a mountain to climb north of the border.

Tim Montgomerie

Nick Hillman selected for Cambridge

At an open primary meeting today, Nick Hillman was selected from a field of six to stand as Conservative candidate for Cambridge at the general election.

Nick is Chief of Staff to David Willetts, specialising in university policy. Previously he worked for pension companies and, before that, spent five years as a History teacher. He has also authored a number of pamphlets for Policy Exchange, Politeia, the CPS and the Bow Group on a variety of issues including pensions, employment, tax credits and welfare reform.

His pitch to Cambridge including the following:

"Cambridge does not always receive its fair share of national resources. Only last week, it was announced local schools won’t get funding to cover the recent increase in births. So we need a local MP who will fight to put Cambridge’s interests at the heart of the next Government. I have the experience to do that..

"I have worked in local schools, including Hills Road Sixth Form College, so I know the needs of young people and public sector staff. I have lived on King Street, and I cycle, drive and use public transport, so I understand local transport pressures. I was once the victim of an unprovoked assault in the city, so I will tackle anti-social behaviour and work for safer streets.

"It is because Cambridge is our favourite place that my wife and I held our wedding reception here earlier this year, and we will move here later this month. I pledge to fight a clean campaign on policies, not personalities."

Read more about him on his website.

The sitting Lib Dem MP, David Howarth, is stepping down and will bequeath a notional majority of 5,834 over Labour to his successor as Lib Dem candidate, with the Conservatives starting in third place with 17.3% of the vote. The seat was Tory-held for all but one year between 1950 and 1992, when it was gained by Labour, who in turn lost it to the Lib Dems in 2005. Nick replaces the previously selected Conservative candidate, Richard Normington, who stood down in October.

Jonathan Isaby

Mike Weatherley in Hove is boosted by the defection of his UKIP opponent to the Conservatives

The Conservative candidate in Hove, Mike Weatherley, has received a big boost today by the defection of his UKIP opponent, Mike Mendoza (pictured), to the Conservative Party.

Mendoza - who has hosted shows on a number of talk radio stations over the years - is in fact a former Conservative councillor in Brighton and Hove. However, he left the party a few years ago and has since stood for UKIP as a candidate for West Sussex County Council and Brighton and Hove Council, and was set to stand in Hove at the general election.

He explained his decision thus:

"After talking to both Mike Weatherley and Tim Loughton [MP for Worthing East and Shoreham where he lives], I realised that they both had the same ideals as me and it would be ridiculous for me to stand against either of them.  We have to work together as hard as possible to rid ourselves of this discredited Labour Government.

"I am also totally disillusioned with the way UKIP has developed over the past year and I am very disappointed with the choice of new leader. Nigel Farage will be a very difficult act to follow and without him at the helm UKIP will inevitably lose a lot of credibility. 

"I am now going to rejoin the Conservative Party, where I believe I can make suggestions and those suggestions will be listened to. It is far better to be within the Conservative Party trying to make a real difference and only the Conservatives offer any realistic prospect of rowing back from the unashamed federalist European agenda with which this Labour Government have been complicit and which the vast majority of people in Britain do not want.

"I was very impressed with Tim Loughton’s views and will support him in every way I can for the future as my MP.  I have always considered Tim a very hard working MP and would not want to do anything to stop him carrying on the great work he has started and achieved so far. Mike Weatherley also has my full support and I have every confidence that he will make a first class MP for Hove."

Mike Weatherley welcomed his opponent's decision:

Jo Johnson selected for Orpington after six ballots (including a tie)

Saturday update - Jo Johnson has released the following statement:

"I'm honoured to have been selected as the PPC for Orpington - a seat that has been so brilliantly represented by John Horam MP - and would like to pay tribute to the exceptional field of candidates who made it such an exciting and gritty finish. I wish them all the best - they deserve better luck than they had last night.

"I'd also like to thank Association Chairman John Esler for his sterling work in organising the selection in such a compressed timeframe and to say how much I am looking forward meeting as many people as possible in the coming weeks as I get cracking on the campaign."

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Jo Johnson was selected at a special general meeting of Orpington Conservative Association tonight to replace retiring MP John Horam as  candidate at the general election.

Events took a dramatic turn when what should have been the fifth and final ballot - a run-off between Johnson and Sajid Javid - resulted in a tie, and a sixth ballot was then called in which Johnson was victorious by just one vote.

A total of six finalists had appeared before the meeting, which I understand was attended by just over one hundred association members.

Jo Johnson is the younger brother of London Mayor Boris and an associate editor of the Financial Times where he edits the paper's Lex column. Read more about him in his Wikipedia entry. He will defend a notional Conservative majority of 5,221.

Jonathan Isaby

Candidates selected for Warley and the two West Bromwich seats

Three candidates have been working as a City Seats Initiative team in the Borough of Sandwell since August 2008.

This week they have been selected for specific seats and are:

West Bromwich East: Alistair Thompson (pictured) - A communications professional, active in the party for about fifteen years, who is a councillor in Portsmouth.

West Bromwich West: Andrew Hardie - a GP in Birmingham who has been heavily involved in Project Umubano in Rwanda.

Warley: Jas Parmer - A former Bedford borough councillor who owns a post office there.

They are all Labour-held seats where the Conservatives are in second place: Tom Watson will defend a notional majority of 11,947 in West Bromwich East, Adrian Bailey will defend a notional majority of 9,821 in West Bromwich West, while John Spellar will defend a notionla majority of 11,206 in Warley.

Jonathan Isaby

Final six names for Spelthorne

The final six candidates in the frame for Spelthorne - where David Wilshire is stepping down - are the following:

• Katy Bourne
• Philippa Broom
• Therese Coffey
• Lynne Hack
• Kwasi Kwarteng
• Michael McManus

An Open Primary meeting will be held on January 22nd, for which any voter in the seat can pre-register via the local association website.

The winner will inherit a majority of 9,936 over Labour.

Jonathan Isaby

David Wilson selected for Inverclyde

Davis Wilson has been selected to fight the Inverclyde constituency in the west of Scotland for the Conservatives at the general election.

David is a local councillor and is in fact currently a one-man Conservative bloc in a rainbow coalition running Inverclyde council.

He will take on former minister David Cairns, who will defend a Labour majority of 11,259 over the SNP. At the last election the Conservatives were in fourth place with 10.2% of the vote.

Jonathan Isaby

Boris Johnson's younger brother reaches the final six for Orpington

Tonight a shortlist of six has been announced for the vacancy in Orpington, where John Horam is retiring and bequeathing a notional Conservative majority of 5,221.

The final will take place this Friday, 11th December, and will take the form of Special General Meeting, only open to Conservative Party members in the constituency.

The six names in the frame are:

• Victoria Atkins - Daughter of Sir Robert Atkins MEP, she is a criminal barrister who prosecutes serious, organised crime, ranging from international drug traffickers to tax and benefit fraudsters.
• Anna Firth - Barrister and campaigner on family and children's issues, she is vice-chairman of Sevenoaks Conservative Association.
• Sajid Javid - A businessman and former Managing Director of Deutsche Bank.  At the age of 24, he was the youngest ever Vice President at Chase Manhattan Bank.
• Jo Johnson (pictured) - Younger brother of Boris, he is an Associate editor of the Financial Times and editor of the paper's Lex column.
• Ryan Robson - Entrepreneur and company director who is a former Wandsworth councillor and is a director of the Centre for Social Justice, for whom he has done work on children in care and educational failure.
• Mary Weale - A Kensington and Chelsea Councillor since 1987 where she has been responsible for running Education, Environmental Services and being Young People's champion. By day, she is joint managing director of an insurance broker.

Jonathan Isaby

Six names short-listed for Cambridge Open Primary

Six candidates have been shortlisted for the forthcoming Open Primary in Cambridge, where a Conservative candidate to replace Richard Normington will be chosen on Saturday 12th December.

They are:

• Eve Conway
• Sarah El-Neil
• Chamali Fernando
• Jane Gould
• Mark Higgins
• Nick Hillman

More biographical details are on the Cambridge Conservatives' website.

Any Cambridge resident wanting to register to attend the meeting must register through the association's website before midnight this Wednesday, 9th December.

Jonathan Isaby