Sir: Having myself attended Nick Scott's reselection for the new
Kensington and Chelsea constituency, I can confirm the essential accuracy of David Rennie's account except for his statement: 'In 1977 . . . [Scott] narrowly defeated a bid by his own association chairman to oust him for "neglecting the constituency".'
As the former chairman, may I point out that the 1977 selection committee voted 11:10 to look at other candidates in addi- tion to Sir Nicholas — which is also what happened this time? In that year, however, the subsequent meeting of the executive council voted 69:21 to reverse the decision and re-adopt him without challenge.
It is true that I had put before the selec- tion committee various complaints about the MP raised by a number of association members and others. However, 'neglecting the constituency' was hardly the gravamen of my statement.
On the showing of the recent meeting reported by David Rennie, Sir Nicholas Scott deserved his victory this time, although holding the meeting in the south- east corner of his old constituency will also have helped.
Neville Beale
Chairman of Chelsea Conservative Association 1977/78, Flat 20 Chelsea Towers, Chelsea Manor Gardens, London SW3
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