Romsey Conservatives have chosen a senior adviser of William Hague as the man to contest the constituency once held by Michael Colvin.

At the next general election Paul Raynes will contest the seat the party held until the deaths of Michael and Nichola Colvin in a blaze at their country mansion at Tangley, near Andover, earlier this year.

In a by-election, the Conservatives were turned over by Liberal Democrat candidate Sandra Gidley,

Paul, 32, grew up near Camberley, Surrey, before attending Salesian College in Farnborough.

In 1990 he graduated with a degree in Anglo-Saxon history from Cambridge University, has worked as a diplomat in the Paris embassy, and was responsible for local government and welfare reform in the Treasury.

As part of the policy unit of party leader William Hague, he was a central figure in the writing of last year's Common Sense Revolution policies and the Believing In Britain mini-manifesto.

Paul and his wife Sarah, 31, are looking forward to living, working and starting a family in the town.

Paul said: "My main ambition for the time being is to see a Conservative government victorious at the next election and to do that we need a Conservative Member of Parliament in the Romsey Constituency.

"Romsey is a fantastic place and I can't believe how lucky I am to have been selected to fight the constituency in such a crucial area at such an important time.

"It is an honour for Sarah and me to have a chance to follow in the footsteps of Michael and Nichola Colvin, who cared so much about the whole constituency, its people and did so much for them.''

He added: "One of the things that I am interested in is how diverse the constituency is.

"One of the challenges is to reach out to those people in the constituency who do not see themselves as Romsonians."

Romsey Conserv-ative Association chairman Tony Forward said: "With Paul Raynes, we have a candidate who has appeal across the whole constituency, I know that when elected he will ensure that his constituents have a young but strong Conservative voice speaking on their behalf."

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