91Èȱ¬

There appears to be some trouble in Tory ranks in North Yorkshire.

But mysteriously, nobody will quite reveal what's caused it.

It all revolves around the Vale of York MP Anne McIntosh, and what looks like an increasingly bitter row with her local constituency party.

Now, a bit of history first. Although Anne has represented Vale of York since 1997, that constituency disappears at the next election.

But she seemed to have struck gold when she was picked for the new seat of Thirsk and Malton - an area where people are born and bred to vote Conservative.

However,

She's been "invited" to a meeting of the party in just a fortnight's time.

Officially, the local party says it's to discuss the future for the consituency and Ms McIntosh - that sounds bad enough.

But unofficially, I understand she will face a motion proposing her deselection.

It's a remarkable twist since , and is a member of David Cameron's front bench team.

And in this case it doesn't appear to be her expense claims (relatively moderate) at the heart of the row - or not "directly", according to one local party member I spoke to.

Nor, does there appear to be any dispute that she does a decent job as an MP.

But there does seem to have been a serious breakdown in her relationship with local party officials, caused by factors as yet unknown.

There's much bafflement on the .

It's all rather unfortunate. Perhaps they'll work out their difficulties before the meeting, but the conversations I've had so far suggest the opposing parties are not about to kiss and make up any time soon.

• Bookmark with:
• |
• |
• |
• |
• - What's this?