In a straw poll of three, as a write, my fellow commentors have unamimously given their verdict on Sir George, and it’s a pretty big thumbs down so far.

We are now vexed with the question of who the Conservatives will pick as his replacement. Looking in from the outside it would seem the top runners locally are David Drew and Iris Anderson. However, David Drew was defeated at the County Elections by the UKIP candidate, Tony Hooke, so his election track record is not good.

The other option is for Conservative Central Office to parachute in an outsider. With the news this weekend about Tim Yeo’s Constituency Association in South Suffolk giving him the order of the boot, might he be looking for a “safe” seat. However, David Drew has stated openly on the letters page of the Andover Advertiser that he believes representation should be by local people, given his criticism of Cllr Hooke for living in Yateley (but who spends 15 hours a day in Andover and Winchester running his business and representing his constituents).

I would suggest that for the first time in countless years in North West Hampshire, the Tories will not be able to assume their favoured candidate will get elected.