Tory row 'undue pressure' claim

Mr Flight wanted local Tories in Arundel to decide

Officials in the Arundel and South Downs constituency of Tory MP Howard Flight say party leaders have subjected local activists to "undue pressure".

The local Conservative Association says its bid to resolve the crisis through a special meeting has been "frustrated".

Tory leader Michael Howard forced Mr Flight to resign as deputy chairman of the party after remarks on spending cuts, and deselected him as an MP.

On Friday, he rejected Mr Flight's appeal against deselection.

Harold Hall, a vice president of the local Conservative Association and a member of the West Sussex County Council, said its members had "spent much of the week trying to get a special general meeting called to hear directly from Mr Flight of the events which led to the withdrawal of the party whip".

Natural justice 'denied'

He said the meeting was also intended to hear from the association's executive council about measures to select another candidate.

"We have been frustrated in this and had the distinct impression that officers of the association are subject to undue pressure from Conservative Central Office where there appears to be little regard for opinion among Conservative workers in the constituency" said Mr Hall.

Mr Hall said the members of Arundel and South Downs Conservative Association had decided to hold an informal meeting on Sunday evening to discuss the next stage of their campaign to keep Howard Flight as their candidate.

We have had the distinct impression that officers of the association are subject to undue pressure from Conservative Central Office Harold Hall

But he stressed that the local party had been "denied natural justice" because there had not been what he termed a "full and fair hearing" into the affair.

He said: "A special general meeting prior to any new selection process convened by our chairman for this purpose is the right way, the only way in which we can bring matters to a just conclusion and to be free to concentrate on ridding the nation of control by Tony Blair."

Public apology

Meanwhile, in a show of strength by the Tory leadership on Friday, the shadow home secretary, David Davis said Michael Howard had "no secret agenda" to introduce extra spending cuts.

David Davis was responding to a suggestion by Labour that sacked MP Howard Flight's comments over spending revealed a "hidden agenda".

Mr Davis told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: "The concern was the intimation that there is some secret agenda. There is no secret agenda. Michael Howard has been very, very clear that there is no secret agenda.

Mr Flight resigned last week as deputy party chairman followed the publication of comments he made to a meeting of the Conservative Way Forward Group.

Labour seized on the remarks as evidence of a "hidden agenda" of Tory spending cuts, and Mr Howard later decided the MP could not stand again as a Tory candidate.

Mr Flight made a public apology in an open letter to Tory leader Michael Howard for suggesting the party planned extra spending cuts.

In the letter, Mr Flight said he deeply regretted his "phraseology in answering a question at the Conservative Way Forward meeting".

"I apologise, publicly, to you in the hope that it may be possible to rescind your decision."

On Friday a party spokesman said Mr Howard would not be swayed by the MP's appeal to let him stand for election.

"The position of Michael Howard and the party remains unchanged," he said.

I apologise, publicly, to you in the hope that it may be possible to rescind your decision Howard Flight MP

Olive branch

Tory MP for Maidstone and the Weald, Ann Widdecombe, urged Mr Howard to "give the fullest consideration to this olive branch", so that the party could "fight the election rather than each other".

Later, she said Mr Howard's rejection "was a great pity".

The Sussex Tory association is set to draw up a shortlist of candidates on Monday, with a final selection due to be made on Wednesday.