The Conservative candidate who will replace Teresa Gorman in Billericay at the next general election is one step closer to being revealed.

The Billericay Conservative Association's selection committee now has the short list down to just five.

The process of elimination has been a difficult task for the committee, with more than 150 initial applications.

In the latest round of interviews the selection committee looked at 21 party members, all keen to step into Mrs Gorman's shoes and ready to fight to keep Billericay in the hands of the Conservatives.

Don Morris, deputy chairman of the Billericay Constituency Conservative Association, said the selection meeting had gone well and five candidates will now go through to the second round of interviews.

However, he declined to reveal exactly who is on the shortlist. The final vote to decide which candidate will go on to fight the seat will be taken by association members at their general meeting on June 23.

Mr Morris said: "Ultimately it is up to the general meeting to decide what kind of person the association is looking for.

"From a personal point of view I am certainly not looking for a pro-European. I would like to see someone in favour of keeping the pound."

Mrs Gorman retained her seat in the 1997 general election with a narrow majority of just over a thousand.

Despite the slim majority Billericay is considered a relatively safe seat, a fact born out by the high number of initial applications.

Frank Tomlin, the association chairman, said: "Inevitably it has been a difficult task to whittle the number down.

"We had a good number of very able candidates."

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