Tories Select Northampton Damian for Folkestone & Hythe

9.39.17am BST (GMT +0100) Fri 14th Jul 2006

Following the Conservatives selection meeting last night, the next Conservative candidate for Folkestone and Hythe will be Damian Collins. Mr Collins stood and lost in Northampton North in the East Midlands in the 2005. As widely predicted, the Conservatives chose to overlook the two female candidates.

The selection is seen as a blow to David Cameron's attempts to see more women selected as Conservative candidates. Last week, a Daily Telegraph reported:

"Senior Tories fear that failure to select one of the women will reflect badly on the [Conservative A] list, which is already mired in difficulty."

In Northampton North, Mr Collins saw the clear Conservative second place destroyed as the Lib Dem vote surged to within 3,000 votes of the Conservatives. Many commentators see that seat now as a three way marginal as many Labour voters switched to the Lib Dems, while the Conservative vote remained almost static.

Damian Collins, 32, is the managing director of Influence, an advertising company which is part of the M & C Saatchi group, and a member of the think-tank The Bow Group.

The BBC quote Michael Howard's advice to Mr Collins as "work hard and take nothing for granted".

The Liberal Democrats have begun the process of selected their candidate, with the final choice to be made by all members in the Autumn.

Related Links:

Northampton North General Election result 2005

BBC News story on Damian Collins' selection

Telegraph News Story "Cameron's A-list is put to the test in Howard's seat" - 9/7/2006