The more the merrier
The fuss that has been created over the pruning of the Conservative Central Office candidates list is justified; and Lord Thorneycroft has acted wisely in bringing the pruning process to a halt. What is not clear, however, is the principle on which he proposes to deal with the list in the future. The list has a certain convenience value: it provides for constituency chairmen, when a parliamentary nomination is available, the names of a large number of proven Conservatives; and it enables Central Office to keep off the list thoroughly undesirable candidates. But this last necessary and convenient act of censorship should be, and should be understood to be, very limited in scope.
There need be no very close questioning of those desiring to be candidates, and the questionaires which now have to be filled in by aspirant candidates are far too long and cumbersome; as is the process of interview through which the individual obtains a place on the list. The size of the list itself is a matter of no moment, and there is no need to prune it for the sake of administrative or bureaucratic convenience. Within certain obvious limits the motto of those compiling the list ought to be, the more the merrier.
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