Rochester punters unmoved by the CON primary and Cameron visit: UKIP still a 77.5% chance
Raised key local issues of support for small business & job creation with @DavidCameron in #RochesterAndStrood today pic.twitter.com/KX7HcKnExy
— Kelly Tolhurst (@KellyTolhurst) October 16, 2014
Is Reckless right to complain about the CON primary?
We are just five weeks away from the Rochester & Strood by-election and today David Cameron visited the area to meet local businesses as well as the two women competing to be the CON candidate.
Last night the Tories staged hustings and voting papers have now gone out by post to every single elector in the constituency, not just Tories, so they can vote by post on who should represent the blue team. It will be next Thursday before the party is able to announce which one has got it.
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Meanwhile a legal argument has started about the status of the primary process and election expenses. Will all or part of the costs have to be set against the overall limit that’s imposed on candidate during elections? The CON argument is that official expenses are triggered once the candidate is chosen. UKIP believe this is unfair because details about the two Tory contenders are included in the mail-pack that has gone out with the ballot forms.
UKIP and Mark Rekless have to be careful about how they handle this. As C4’s Michael Crick writes “it’s hard to complain about a move which seemingly makes the process more democratic”.
Meanwhile punters remain unimpressed. UKIP remains a 77.5% chance on Betfair to win.
What will really set the betting alive is a new poll, perhaps from Lord A, in which the candidates are named. That’s probably a couple of weeks off.