2009 Gosport Conservative primary

The Gosport Conservative Party parliamentary primary of 2009 was the 1st open primary election used to select the Conservative Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for the constituency of Gosport. The election was held on Friday 4 December 2009 under the first-past-the-post system. The incumbent MP, Sir Peter Viggers, had announced his intention to decline re-election following the parliamentary expenses scandal, in which he gained huge media attention for attempting to claim £1,645 for a duck house.[1]

Conservative Party (UK) parliamentary primary in Gosport, 2009
4 December 2009
Turnout17.8%
 
Candidate Caroline Dinenage James Bethell, 5th Baron Bethell
Popular vote 4,892 2,965
Percentage 38.6% 23.4%
 
Candidate Sam Gyimah Julia Manning
Popular vote 2,867 1,935
Percentage 22.6% 15.3%
Elected Prospective Parliamentary Candidate

Caroline Dinenage

Background

On 21 May 2009, The Daily Telegraph reported that Sir Peter Viggers, MP for Gosport, had claimed over £30,000 in gardening expenses over three years. Details of a "pond feature" worth £1,645, identified as a "floating duck island", were also published. On hearing that the national newspaper would be running the story on the front page the next day, Viggers announced that he would resign at the next election. The floating duck house claim later became a symbol of the Westminster expenses scandal.

The Chairman of the Gosport Constituency Conservative Association was accused of sexism after he told Channel 4 News that he would happily appoint a female candidate if she were attractive. This followed remarks by a local councillor, saying that his application to succeed Viggers had been rejected by Conservative Campaign Headquarters, perhaps because he was "a man and too old".[2]

Following the successfully high turnout at the Totnes primary, David Cameron announced that further open primary elections would be used to select parliamentary candidates.[3] On 28 October, it was revealed that Gosport would hold an open primary in December, following a public hustings in the final fortnight of the campaign. Party Chairman Eric Pickles confirmed the news and noted that, "it is vital to empower local people and allow them to have the final say".[4]

Campaign

The procedure for the primary process determined that the number of candidates would be shortlisted to six, by the Gosport Constituency Conservative Association. A second shortlist would then be drawn up, eliminating two candidates. The four remaining candidates would appear on the ballot. Ballot papers were sent to every registered voter in the Gosport constituency via a postal vote, regardless of their political affiliation on 12 November. On 20 November, a public hustings involving the four candidates took place. The deadline for the return of ballot papers was established to be three weeks after their initial launch on 4 December - the result was declared on the same day.

Candidates

First Shortlist

The six candidates in the first shortlist were:

Second Shortlist

The four candidates in the final shortlist were:

Criticism

The first shortlist was met with criticism due to the lack of candidates from the borough of Gosport. Conservative Party members in Gosport were reported in the local media to be angered that CCHQ had used the primary election to select A-List candidates to a safe Conservative seat.[6]

Results
Ballot: 4 December 2009
Candidate Votes %
Caroline Dinenage 4,892 38.6
James Bethell, 5th Baron Bethell 2,965 23.4
Sam Gyimah 2,867 22.6
Julia Manning 1,935 15.3
Majority 1,927 15.2
Turnout 12,659
Dinenage elected Gosport PPC
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See also

References
  1. "'Duck island' claim MP to retire". BBC News. 21 May 2009.
  2. "Sexism rap for Tory Alan Scard who says only attractive women should become MPs". Daily Mirror. 22 August 2009.
  3. "David Cameron reiterates Tory opposition to Tony Blair becoming EU President". ConservativeHome. 27 October 2009.
  4. "Gosport voters to get open primary on replacing Peter Viggers". The Daily Telegraph. 29 October 2009.
  5. "Conservative hereditary peers' by-election, July 2018: result" (PDF). House of Lords. 18 July 2018.
  6. "Gosport Tory shortlist lacking a hopeful from town". Portsmouth News. 5 November 2009.
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