Speculation grows over who will be Tories' contender for next general election

Mr Pawsey wrote to constituency chair Adrian Warwick on December 4 last year to say he wouldn’t stand again and the party has given little away about who will take on the challenge of replacing him.

The current MP has a seemingly comfortable majority of 13,447 but election pundits will be aware that at a previous time of unpopularity for the national party, Mark’s father, Jim Pawsey, lost his then Rugby and Kenilworth seat to Labour in 1997, after having had a similar majority – 13,248 – at the previous election.

Jim Pawsey had won the earlier Rugby seat from Labour in 1979, with Labour’s Bill Price having held it since 1966.

So the current party won’t be taking the numbers for granted.

The Advertiser has been in regular contact with Mr Warwick as certain potential names emerged but he confirmed last month nothing had been decided.

He said nominations would be opening at the end of May and they were working with Conservative Central Office.

But a new wave of speculation has been generated on the Twitter page Tomorrow’sMPs, run by national journalist Michael Crick.

It draws together information about candidates for all parties and last Wednesday, May 31, Rugby Conservatives were the subject of two tweets, putting forward a total of eight names.

Crick’s choices were current or former councillors from Rugby borough, plus a couple from Northamptonshire – but there’s a reasonable expectation national candidates will also join the fight, making the likely list much broader than the tweets suggest.

Two of those he named have already confirmed they are not stepping forward, so while the tweets show there is considerable interest in the choice, the wait goes on for an outcome.

When he announced his decision, Mr Pawsey wrote to Mr Warwick: “I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in Westminster, raising matters of concern to residents of Rugby and Bulkington.

“It has been a pleasure over my time as our MP to see Rugby grow in a controlled manner, through new housing and through attracting new businesses to provide excellent opportunities for the next generation.”

The next general election is expected in 2024.