Central Office received a series of complaints about Mark MacGregor. Lord Tebbit – who intervened in the last election campaign against MacGregor - complained about MM’s factionalism whilst he was part of the Federation of Conservative Students. The Opposition Chief Whip, according to an impeccable source inside CCHQ, noted that a significant number of MPs would be unhappy if he was selected. Iain Duncan Smith complained of the ways in which MacGregor was involved in the unfounded allegations against his wife.
Central Office at the highest level chose to ignore these complaints and haven’t stopped there. According to ConservativeHome’s three Thanet South sources (partly backed up a leaked email), CCHQ has actively blocked a leading rival from being interviewed after the Association had actually voted to interview him. Slowly but surely the race appears to have been fixed to see MacGregor prosper even though he is not an A-lister.
This whole incident is further ammunition for those who want the secretive Candidates' Committee replaced with an open and transparent panel – the members of which are democratically elected by the voluntary party.