SIX Tory members will be battling it out next month to be the next MP candidate for Bethnal Green and Bow. The conservative party will be picking its candidate at an open primary selection process on Sunday March 7 to represent the party in the next g

SIX Tory members will be battling it out next month to be the next MP candidate for Bethnal Green and Bow.

The conservative party will be picking its candidate at an 'open primary' selection process on Sunday March 7 to represent the party in the next general election.

Those shortlisted are statistician Graeme Archer, Chorleywood councillor Kemal Butt, Maria Ioannou who works in publishing, Canary Wharf Group's Zakir Khan, barrister Claire Palmer and Ali Stow who works for the RAC.

The chosen candidate will be competing to replace Respect's George Galloway in the Westminster hot seat.

And will be taking on Labour's Rushanari Ali, Respect's Abjol Miah, Lib Dem's Ajmal Masroor, the Green party's Farid Bakht and the Independent candidate Hasib Hikmat.

The contest, expected to last at least three hours, will take place at St Hilda's Community Centre in Club Row, Bethnal Green from 2.30pm.

Residents in the Bethnal Green and Bow area who are registered on the electoral role are entitled to vote together with party members who joined before December 7 last year.

Voters turned out last year to select one of three possible candidates, but due to concerns over organisational issues in the run-up to the primary, party officials decided to declare the vote null and void at the meeting.

Mr Galloway is giving up his Bethnal Green and Bow seat to run for neighbouring Poplar and Limehouse.