Congratulations to Therese Coffey who was given “a prolonged standing ovation” 
after becoming the Conservative parliamentary candidate in Suffolk Coastal to replace John Gummer.
Her victory was outstanding. Jonathan Isaby, co-editor of ConservativeHome who chaired the selection meeting, said it was unheard of for a candidate on a six-person shortlist to win on the first ballot, and praised her superb performance.
Therese is a BBC property finance finance manager who lives in Hampshire and is set to be the first woman ever to represent Suffolk in Westminster.
Tim Montgomerie today states that Therese was selected because “her Euroscepticism and Thatcherite style won over an Association that didn’t care if she was a man or a woman. They liked her politics.”
I’ve spoken to many other extremely talented women Tory candidates who are also strong Thatcherites, and they also believe that modernising parliament with Conservatives will require a new style of modern Thatcherism to put our economy back on track.
Only instead of handbags, these women will be equipped with iPhones and Blackberries throughout their 80 hour week. I wonder if one day, any of them will succeed Maggie and become our second woman prime minister.
Update 26 February: The Times says the same today following a survey of Tory candidates.
