Tories announce election candidate shortlist (From Salisbury Journal)

Tories announce election candidate shortlist

10:22am Wednesday 13th January 2010

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SIX people have been shortlisted to fight the next election for the Conservatives in Salisbury following the announcement that Robert Key MP is to stand down at the next elec tion.

The candidates are Victoria Atkins, Ian Axton, Fleur Butler, John Glen, Jeremy Quin and Zehra Zaidi.

They were chosen from 184 candidates and will go before the Salisbury Conservative Association’s executive on Monday (Jan 18) and then to an open pri mary at Salisbury Playhouse on January 31.

Local party chairman Penny Brown said the selection panel was “delighted”

with the shortlist.

“It has been a long and difficult process of distillation, both collectively and individually, to sift through 184 CVs of strong candidates, and a great privi lege to have been involved,” she said.

“We are looking forward to the open primary where both members and non- members will have an opportunity to make their choice.”

The selection process was delayed last week following a fire on a train.

Six local Tories were travelling up to Conservative HQ in London on Thursday to pick the final six candi dates but didn’t get any further than Basingstoke.

Mrs Brown said the panel members were able to do some of their work on the train, referring to candidates by number rather than name to preserve confidentiality, and then they went back to her home to continue whittling them down.

The would-be MPs had to wait until Tuesday, after the panel reconvened in London, to learn whether they had made the shortlist. Mr Key, 64, who has represented Salisbury for 26 years, announced his decision to stand down at the next elec tion last month.

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