ONE of the tenets of David Cameron s strategy for restoring the Conservative Party to popular appeal is to move away from the New Labour concept of top-down management. The emphasis is on listening to people. The Conservative Party is no longer the nasty

ONE of the tenets of David Cameron's strategy for restoring the Conservative Party to popular appeal is to move away from the New Labour concept of top-down management.

The emphasis is on listening to people. The Conservative Party is no longer the nasty party.

I am chairman of The Mordens and Abington Pigotts branch of the South Cambridgeshire Conservative Association.

I was astonished, therefore, to hear, not from the association, but a third party, that the association against my advice had selected a candidate from outside this area to stand in the ward for the district council elections.

I had previously told the association that we have in Cllr Cicely Murfitt, who is from a highly-respected long-standing local family and who stands as an independent, a representative on the district council who over the past six years has served the local community both with success and loyalty.

I believe that I will be speaking for the majority of local people when I say that we wish Cicely Murfitt to continue to represent us on the district council.

When questioned about the wisdom of imposing on this community a Conservative candidate from outside the area, Colin Barker, the association head of campaign said: "The Mordens will just have to get used to it. This is politics."

It seems that David Cameron's attempt to reform the Conservative Party in order to make it electable has fallen on deaf ears as far as the South Cambridgeshire Conservative Association is concerned.

The association's stance on this matter has nothing to do with the representation of the local people and everything to do with the ambitions of a few people who wish to retain their personal power-base on the council. It should be recognised as being just that and the voters should resist it.

The members of The Mordens and Abington Pigotts branch do NOT support the candidature of Bob Poulter at the forthcoming district council elections and urge all Conservatives to vote for Cicely Murfitt.

On the wider point, this bizarre decision on the part of the South Cambridgeshire Conservative Association should be seen as a local issue and treated as such. It should not deflect from the main aim which is to return a Conservative government to power at the General Election and in this respect we confirm our support for our MP Andrew Lansley, and the Conservative Party at national level.

JEREMY FORDHAM, ChairmanThe Mordens and Abington, Pigotts Branch, South Cambridgeshire Conservative Association