TORY MAYOR RACE: THE LETTER FROM EPPING FOREST

Dear Chairman... As you may know Steven Norris was Member of Parliament for Epping Forest from 1988 to 1997. We know him well. We all have strong reservations about his suitability to represent the Conservative Party in such a high-profile role. To select him as the candidate would give all the wrong messages and lead to further outbursts in the press.

We therefore consider that it is sensible for us to give you a few more facts...

When Steven Norris announced his intention in October 1995 to stand down as Member of Parliament for Epping Forest, we agreed to allow him to protect his future career prospects by giving the impression that he had taken the decision not to stand again for personal and financial reasons. The truth is that had he not stood down the Officers of the Association would have taken steps to deselect him. We had even gone so far as to book a hall in which to hold the general meeting for this specific purpose. We believed he was causing much disquiet in the constituency with continual revelations in the press, thus losing us considerable support. He had lied to officers and the executive council on more than one occasion.

To this day his personal life is still in disarray: he announced to the media several weeks ago that he intended to marry the mother of his new baby. However, he is not yet divorced and we believe has not taken any steps in recent months to pursue divorce proceedings, although he has been separated well over five years, indeed since the summer of 1993. He has openly admitted that he lies and cheats to his women and therefore can hardly be trusted in other walks of life. We are enclosing a letter which was written to members in September 1996 which we feel has some relevance...

We have no wish to cause further trouble for the Party.... we have at all times the best interests of the Party at heart... Another wrong selection would leave us totally without credibility.

Yours sincerely

John Silbenad

Valerie Metcalfe

Di Collins

Peter J Ashton