The sift has taken place to select the three finalists for the Kensington selection. They are:
- Charlotte Vere. Currently Acting General Secretary of the Independent Schools Council, Vere has worked in the private sector for 25 years. In 2010, she was the Conservative candidate in Brighton Pavilion, where she increased the Tory vote but saw Caroline Lucas turn the constituency Green. She was Finance Director of the victorious No2AV campaign in the 2011 referendum, and has campaigned for Conservative policies to be better targeted at women voters. She previously made the final four for South Cambridgeshire and in Havant.
- Shaun Bailey. A former adviser to the Prime Minister, Bailey first came to prominence as the Conservative candidate in Hammersmith at the last election. He is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Policy Studies, and has long been an outspoken critic of the social harm done by left wing policies. In 2013 he made headlines when it was reported he believed he had been pushed out of No 10 by an Etonian clique. That same year he was longlisted in Croydon South.
- Victoria Borwick. A former Kensington and Chelsea councillor, Borwick is currently a Member of the London Assembly and Deputy Mayor of London. She has twice stood to be the Conservative Mayoral candidate, coming second in 2008 to Boris Johnson. Most of her professional life was spent in events and events management, both in the corporate and art worlds. In recent months she has been campaigning against the mansion tax.
The final selection will take place (slightly inauspiciously) on Friday 13th March.