ConservativeHome reports on the Bromley & Chislehurst shortlist, which has been published in today's London Evening Standard. The surprise name on the list is Eric Forth's widow Carroll, who yesterday passed the Parliamentary Assessment Board. People have done remarkably well to keep quiet about this for so long - very unusual in the Conservative Party! Carroll could well be the best placed candidate for this by-election. I'd love to be a fly on the wall at Saturday's selection meeting. She is certainly a feisty character and a lady with some definite opinions. If the local Party are looking for someone to take on Eric's mantle, then who better could there be? With the LibDems having picked a local candidate I would be astonished if the Conservatives didn't follow suit. Go Forth, Carroll!PS Apologies for the quality of the photo, but I scanned it from a leaflet I helped deliver in the constituency a couple of evenings ago. The fold is in exactly the wrong place!
go Forth and multiply.
ReplyDeleteI'll get my coat.
Excellent news. I hope that she wins the nomination.
ReplyDeleteI hope so too.
ReplyDeleteIt will show well-known ConservativeHome fruitcake Chad Noble what is appropriate and what is not.
He
http://www.bromleychislehurst.com/
is already using Eric Forth's name to promote his campaign, even before it has been announced who the Tory nomination would be.
I hope he would have the decency to throw in the towel if Mrs Forth did stand.
Surely those who do not wish Chad well will be delighted at the prospect at a rather expensive lost deposit...
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, isn't Mrs F of an American persuasion? I could be completely wrong, but I have a vague recollection that Unlce Sam does not look kindly on his nephews and nieces running for office outside of the US?
Croydonian I believe from talking to her that she is from California, and is thoroughly wonderful lady who would add a great deal to the members lobby me thinks. GO CARROLL GO.... Is what I say.
ReplyDeleteI will do my utmost to make it down to help out in any way I can if she is selected.
Go forth Carroll but don't come second!
ReplyDeleteHaving consulted The Oracle (a friend with dual nationality), I got this response:
ReplyDelete"It is strictly verboten according to the inside of your US passport to be so much as a civil servant, in any capacity, but in the 80's the US Supreme Court ruled that you cannot strip an American of their citizenship; it is theirs".
Still, this might make for minor difficulties for the redoubtable Mrs Forth.
Kb - lest you were in any doubt, I don't give a good goddamn what someone's passport is if they are good enough. After all, the greatest leader this country has ever known was Anglo-American....
ReplyDeleteThis husband and wife thing is fine just as long as it is not used as a quick fix - i.e. as a sympathy vote to secure the seat in the short term, only to lose it subsequently should the successor simply not be up to the job.Although we joke about MPs, it is a very demanding occopation.
ReplyDeleteHowever, judging by what Iain and others have posted about Carroll here, she is more than capable of taking on this mantle.
She didn't get selected and according to the BBC it's a choice between two A listers. Looks like Cameron has scored a real victory here and the local association is recognising that making the party electable means embracing his measures.
ReplyDelete