There are two candidate selection meetings taking place tonight in key seats. The first is in Grantham and Stamford, won with a 20,094 vote majority for the Conservatives in 2017 by Nick Boles, who currently sits as an ‘Independent Progressive Conservative’.
Tim Clark: Currently the Principal of Skinners’ Academy in Hackney, Clark was previously Headmaster of Spalding High School in Lincolnshire, a grammar school – he has written about education policy for ConservativeHome. In 2005 he stood against David Blunkett in Sheffield Brightside, in 2014 he was a finalist in the Boston and Skegness selection, and in 2017 he was a finalist in Harborough.
Cllr Ben Everitt: Born and raised in the constituency, he was educated at the Kings School in Grantham and worked on farms in the area before getting a job with a local grain trader. For the last seven years he has worked for the Institute of Chartered Accountants, and is currently the Institute’s Head of Strategy. He is a former Conservative Association Chairman, and serves as a District Councillor in Aylesbury Vale.
Julie Marson: A grammar school girl, who spent her career in finance, Marson contested Dagenham and Rainham in the 2015 and 2017 General Elections. Born in Barking, she is a former Thanet councillor and has served as a magistrate. During the EU referendum campaign she sat on the board of Women for Britain.
Gareth Davies: Davies is a Yorshireman, who works in the finance sector, including with major pension funds around the world. He has advised UK and US governments on social investment, sits on the Conservative Party’s National Economic Policy Taskforce, and is the Conservative Policy Forum’s social enterprise champion. He contested Doncaster Central in 2010 and Leeds Central in 2017.
The second seat selecting tonight is Canterbury, for which the candidate bios are available here.