Will Conservative Associations in winnable seats select high-flyers from outside the constituency – or local people, often councillors (whether high-flyers or not)?
William Atkinson’s assessment to date is that there is a trend of Associations selecting ‘favourite sons’. Not, please note, ‘favourite sons and daughters”. That trend is evident in one selection that took place today – but not in another.
In Bromsgrove, Bradley Thomas, the Conservative leader of Wychavon District Council, defeated Sebastian Payne, the Director of Onward and former Financial Times columnist, by a handful of votes on the third ballot.
In West Suffolk, Nick Timothy, the Daily Telegraph columnist, former Chief of Staff to Theresa May and former ConservativeHome columnist, beat Richard Rout, deputy leader of Suffolk county council, by a larger margin on the second.
Timothy becomes the second former senior Special Adviser to be selected for what on paper is a “safe seat” – the first being Rupert Harrison, former Chief of Staff to George Osborne when the latter was Chancellor, for Bicester and Woodstick.
But as William writes, their selections are against the trend to date. Downing Street and CCHQ will be perturbed by the continuing run of men being selected in the safer constituencies.