A Poor State of Affairs
Liz Truss, the Tory PPC in South West Norfolk is now facing a full meeting of the local association with a view to deselecting her because she had an affair in the past.
I cannot believe that this is happening. Whilst I do not condone Truss’ actions, she like any other person is entitled to a private life and how she conducts her private life is up to her. I fail to see why having an affair quite some time ago now causes a problem in her being a candidate. Cameron is apparently raging at this move. You bet he is: if Truss is deselected he will lose a female candidate in the same month he announced all women short lists that has caused such a storm.
It’s not as if she had an affair with anyone on the selection panel in the last couple of months that could have influenced the selection process, so why is it a problem now? A basic Google search would have revealed she had had an affair and if that is a problem for SWN Conservatives, then they shouldn’t have selected her in the first place.
The right and wrongs of the affair in itself should not come into this. It had nothing to do with her selection and is entirely separate from politics. Yes, there are some, many even candidates who have not and will not have an affair, but we have to realise that these sort of things go on all the time and as long as it doesn’t affect the individual’s ability to represent the interests of constituents then I see no problem in such people being candidates and or MPs.
It is sometimes the case that associations select candidates and then don’t get on with them once the campaign kicks off and so sometimes there are moves to push the candidate aside and reselect. It’s happened in at least two constituencies within the last year and I wonder if there are other reasons for the executive seeking a full vote of the association other than just the affair. It certainly looks a bit odd to try and get rid of a candidate because of her adulterous lifestyle.
One has to wonder if it were a male candidate would he be facing the same sort of questioning? Probably not. That’s sexism – real sexism. I am a great supporter of the grassroots and I firmly believe that local associations should have autonomy on candidate selections. However if episodes like this keep cropping up CCHQ’s affirmative action will look a bit more justified. South West Norfolk Conservatives need to realise that having an affair does not necessarily affect their ability to be a good candidate and subsequent MP.
I very much doubt she will be deselected. Even if the association votes to get rid of her, CCHQ will step in and reinforce her as the candidate. She has the personal backing of David Cameron. They’ve done it before and they’ll quite happily do it again.
