Rank-and-file Stortford Tories back MP Marson to fight next General Election

Bishop’s Stortford MP Julie Marson has survived a shock vote to save her political skin.

A number of sources have told the Indie that the result of the ballot of rank-and-file members of the Hertford & Stortford Conservative Association was delivered this afternoon (Friday, April 21).

The email poll was triggered by 58-year-old Mrs Marson after members of the constituency’s executive, the Tory top brass who work most closely with her, voted 8-7 to reject her request to be readopted as their next General Election candidate.

In her appeal to ordinary members to back her, she told of the “devastating shock” she felt at the vote of no confidence.

The Indie understands that there were 117 votes for Mrs Marson to be reselected and 71 against - 62% in favour. But of the 355 party members in total entitled to vote, just 32.9% backed her.

The vote had been shrouded in secrecy. Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ) refused to answer questions about how many members had the right to take part, when voting would begin and end, when and how the result would be announced and how the electronic ballot would be monitored to ensure it was accurate.

Mrs Marson, 58, has held the safe seat for the Tories since the General Election in December 2019.

Since then she has risen through the Westminister ranks. She was first appointed an assistant whip by Boris Johnson last July, along with a position as a junior minister at the Department for Work and Pensions, after a ministerial exodus forced his resignation as Prime Minister.

She lost both roles when Liz Truss moved into 10 Downing Street and was reinstated as a whip in October when Rishi Sunak took charge.

In the constituency, her retention of a family home in Broadstairs, Kent, has been a bone of contention, raising concerns about a lack of commitment.

Instead of moving to Hertford and Stortford with her husband, their son and blond cockapoo Boris, Mrs Marson bought a flat in Sawbridgeworth.

Her political neighbours, Saffron Walden MP Kemi Badenoch, Harlow’s Robert Halfon and Sir Oliver Heald in North East Hertfordshire were all unanimously reselected by their constituencies.