New selection rules passed by English Candidates Committee

I am delighted to report that the proposed new Selection Rules for Parliamentary candidates have been passed by ECC with only minor amendments. I don't want to go into too much detail for the time being, especially as they need to be ratified by English Council next year, but the principles that underpin them are:

• a two-tier approach, with a pared back set of rules for development seats
• greater potential freedom for candidates in the campaign phase
• the opportunity for Local Parties to opt for a more rigorous process should they deem it necessary at any phase of the selection, but not to opt out
• greater protection for applicants from arbitrary decisions by shortlisting committees

I'm pretty pleased about the way things have gone, and I hope that the efforts of the working group who led on this, chaired by Sal Jarvis, meet with wide approval.