Tory candidate selection

8.31.18am BST (GMT +0100) Tue 20th Oct 2009

As a constituent as well as an interested party, I attended the Conservatives' open primary meeting on 15 October to select a Conservative candidate for Bracknell for the next General Election.

Despite the background and the publicity, the meeting was not particularly well attended. Apart from Conservative members, who did not need to register, I doubt if more than 100 members of the public were present. I believe about 500 people were expected in total but only about 300 did so.

The short list of candidates proved impressive and the prospect of winning an historically safe seat such as Bracknell clearly attracted a strong field. Without exception each of the candidates were either well-known to Central Office or had been a PPC before. Some even had a recommendation from a senior member of the Shadow Cabinet!

Each candidate said they would do everything they could for the constituency and would live locally, if elected. Obviously the preferences expressed by the public for a locally-based MP made quite an impact.

I left the meeting after four hours of interviews and before the secret ballot began. It was interesting to note that the successful candidate required a minimum of 50% plus one to win selection and that as many ballots, as necessary, would be held until this was achieved. If the Tories were really serious about opening up democracy perhaps they should think about adopting this approach more widely, especially for local and national elections!

I understand Dr Lee was eventually elected to the candidate. I found this surprising but given his position as the only candidate with any knowledge and experience of the area perhaps this was to be expected. He will be a formidable opponent but having met the 'enemy' I am confident the Liberal Democrats will still do well.