Tory Candidate for May 2012
Reading East Conservatives
In a surprise move, the Reading East Conservative Association has deselected sitting Peppard ward councillor Jamie Chowdary.
Recriminations have already started as supporters of Councillor Chowdhary flock to join Reading West Conservatives and have given off the record briefings denouncing the deselection as cowardly.
Meanwhile, Reading East Conservatives have denied that this exodus will cause problems for them in the May elections. In another off the record briefing the two remaining members told us: "we can always bus in candidates from Wokingham and West Berkshire like we normally do."
Mr Chowdhary told friends of his shock at the deselection process telling them: "This isn't covered in the Conservative constitution. It clearly states that you must have committed a murder or gone shoplifting at M&S. Perhaps Richard Willis found an unpaid parking fine?"
An unnamed member of Reading East Conservatives told us: "Having a popular and hardworking Tory councillor standing in a ward like Peppard seems such a waste in a rotten ward like that so we decided to see if the folklore that we could pin a blue rosette on a donkey and still win was true."
Councillor Chowdhary has declined to make a public statement but muckspReading understands that he is considering an offer to move to Strasbourg to take up commentary on Reading politics under the blog title "Jamie's The One".