A CONSERVATIVE councillor has hit out at party chiefs for “parachuting in” a General Election candidate from outside a Hampshire constituency.

David Whittingham says he expects to be thrown out for backing an Independent candidate in Fareham, and claims party chiefs prevented him putting his name forward to be the next Tory candidate.

But local party bosses say he was “simply too late” to go through the selection process and say that none of the 94 people who formed the initial shortlist to be Tory candidate were actually from Fareham.

Suella Fernandes, a barrister from London who has since moved to the town, was eventually chosen by party members as the party’s candidate to succeed outgoing former MP Mark Hoban.

She beat Portsmouth City Council leader Donna Jones, Jeremy Quin from Buckingham, and Nick Rose from Bournemouth to be selected.

Cllr Whittingham, who has also represented UKIP on the council having been elected in 2012, says he contacted the leader of Fareham Borough Council, Sean Woodward, in January to express his interest in standing to be MP. However he says he received an email from the chairman of the local party association in early February saying he had missed the selection dates.

Cllr Whittingham said: “I emailed back and requested the dates that all candidates must submit their names; the reason for putting my name forward for consideration was that I support the views of the residents of Fareham and that they deserve a local person, with knowledge of local issues, to represent them in the House of Commons.”

“I was told the closing date for selection was February 9 – but the email he sent to me telling me this came through on February 7.

“I feel that the Conservative administration of Fareham did not want someone local.

“However I find it hard to believe that with 24 (not including myself) sitting councillors and an association membership of over 1,000 people that the Conservative administration could not find someone local to represent the good people of Fareham.

“Why draft in someone from outside the area who doesn’t really know the area?”

But Cllr Woodward told the Daily Echo that anybody wanting to become a candidate for a General Election had to first be on an “approved” candidate list which would see them tested on anything from dedication to their community to a criminal record.

He said: “When Cllr Whittingham came forward and expressed an interest it was way after all of the approved candidates had been asked to come forward by. He was simply too late.

“If they had wanted to be an MP then he needed to contact Conservative campaign headquarters a long time ago.

Everybody has known about the date of the election for five years.”

He said 94 “approved” candidates had initially put themselves forward for selection, but none were residents of the Fareham constituency.

Cllr Whittingham has since backed Nick Gregory, a former Conservative councillor who is currently an Independent, to support him in standing as a General Election candidate, saying he is a “real local candidate”.

Cllr Whittingham, who claims Ms Fernandes was “parachuted” in from outside Fareham, says he feels he will now be “discriminated against” for his actions and he believes he will now be replaced as a Tory council candidate for next year’s elections.

Ms Fernandes said: “I live in Locks Heath, I’m really pleased to be part of the community. I’ve made it my duty and business to meet as many people as possible.

“I think my combination of experience and the face that I am very dedicated to Fareham having moved here very quickly and made my business to be a full-time candidate, I think that reflects how importantly I am taking this opportunity.”

Cllr Woodward said: “There is a rule in any political part that if you propose another candidate to stand against your party’s candidate you open yourself up to the risk of being expelled within the party’s rules.”