To see all of our reports on shortlists, nominations and selections from the past few days, click here. Thanks to the help of many of our readers, ConservativeHome has been first for selection news, ahead of the national press. If you have any information to share on who is up for selection and where, please click here – all our sources are strictly anonymous.
A fairly quiet night for selections last night, but tonight we see a triple whammy: candidates will be selected in three Conservative-held seats: Harborough, Hitchin and Harpenden, and the Isle of Wight.
ConHome has the Isle of Wight final three
For that last selection, there are now three candidates again. Originally, Clare Foges, Mark Fox and Bob Seely made up the shortlist. The first two then withdrew. ConservativeHome is told Seely will now face Alicia Kearns (pictured, right), who recently contested the Chelmsford selection but was unsuccessful, as well as Joe Robertson, a local solicitor. Kearns is a counter-terrorism PR specialist who, during her time at the Foreign Office, advised over 70 Governments on tackling ISIS.
Bolton North East candidate replaced
Yesterday we got the unusual news that a candidate in a marginal target seat has withdrawn before the election begins. Abi Kay, who had been selected in Bolton North East (Labour majority 4,377), told The Bolton News: “Due to personal reasons I am sadly standing down as the candidate for Bolton North East.” We don’t know exactly what happened, but a replacement has swiftly been chosen:
Candidates selected
Ealing North (Labour majority 12,326): Isobel Grant: The Association Chairman of Ealing North, before her selection, Grant was up unopposed at last night’s meeting. A structural engineer by profession, she has worked on infrastructure for the 2012 Olympics, Heathrow Terminal 5, and Crossrail. She is a former Ealing councillor, and fought Bristol South in the 2015 General Election
Leeds North East (Labour majority 7,250): Cllr Ryan Stephenson: A Leeds City Councillor since last year, Stephenson has been Chief of Staff to Elmet and Rothwell MP Alex Shelbrooke since 2010. He served as chairman of Shelbrooke’s election campaign in 2010, and is Vice-Chairman of the Education Advisory Board at a primary school. Stephenson contested Leeds East in the 2015 General Election and was on the Yorkshire and the Humber Conservative list in the 2014 European Election.
Luton South (Labour majority 5,711): Dean Russell: A children’s author and former councillor, Russell runs his own communications consultancy. He worked with Liam Fox on his One Minute Fox Youtube series, and contested Luton North in 2015.
Streatham (Labour majority 13,934): Cllr Kim Caddy: A Wandsworth Borough councillor, Caddy contested the constituency in 2015. A chartered accountant, with a degree in Biological Sciences, she most recently held a senior finance role with a FTSE 100 engineering conglomerate.
Selecting tonight
Harborough (Conservative majority 19,632): Shortlist and candidate biographies here.
Hitchin and Harpenden (Conservative majority 20,055): Shortlist and candidate biographies here.
Isle of Wight (Conservative majority 13,703): See above.
City of Durham (Labour majority 11,439)
Rother Valley (Labour first, UKIP second, Conservatives in third in 2015)
Slough (Labour majority 7,336)