How wine gums helped me win my Tory selection battle

To the uninitiated, Tattersalls is an historic and world-renowned bloodstock auction house in Newmarket, Suffolk. Since 1766, the finest race horses in the world have been bought and sold here. As the magnificent beasts are paraded around the sales ring, eager bidders sit in circular rows of seats, each aiming to catch the auctioneer’s eye. This is a serious business: last year Tatts sold 10,000 horses and turned over 400 million guineas.

On Sunday, the famous old building bore witness to a different business but one which is no less serious. Lord Hayward, former Conservative MP and retired rugby referee, played auctioneer. And the members of the West Suffolk Conservative Association took to their seats to inspect and assess not the usual parade of equine perfection, but us: the final four applicants from whom they would select their candidate for the next general election.