Despite several women – including Aphra Brandreth – recently being selected, on current polling, the spectre of a shrinking female presence on the Conservative benches still looms.
The pair will ease CCHQ’s concerns about a lack of female candidates in recent selections.
The seats include Gower, Wirral West, and Oxford West and Abingdon, all of which have been held by Conservatives in recent years.
As of last month, only 16 per cent of those selected in Tory-held seats since June had been women – a drop on the current percentage within the parliamentary party.
Fox was previously an MEP for South West England and Gibralter, and Conservative leader in the European Parliament.
The Party Chairman on the constitutional review, membership, the coming Conservative Conference, candidate selection and Carol Vorderman’s false accusations against him, which she was compelled to retract.
The selection of the Olympic gold medallist is interesting not only for his star power, but for his lack of connection to the constituency, and comparative age.
There was a sense that members wanted “a fresh start” after a vote against Jonathan Djanogly, the current MP.
They are a mixture of Conservative-held and target seats.
Against the trend of recent selections, Simister-Thomas was an outsider to the constituency.
Kieran Mullan, the incumbent MP for Crewe and Nantwich, is in the final three.
Having previously stood on several occasions for Labour, Gardner joined the Conservatives in 2018. He has lifelong ties to the new constituency.
Plus: Kristy Adams selected in Sussex Mid, and Nigel Gardner selected in Harpenden and Berkhamsted.
Like other recent candidates, Strafford also made much of his long-standing personal connections to the area. A local source tells me he clearly “knew his stuff”.
Earlier this year the Coalition for Global Prosperity set out to teach the next generation of Parliamentary candidates a basic knowledge of defence, diplomacy, and development.