This is Bristol reports that the city’s Conservatives are thinking of choosing candidates by means of an ‘open primary’ – a meeting whereby voters get to come and listen to the contenders. Actually that’s not a primary at all – us political anoraks know that this is a ‘caucus’, and that a ‘primary’ is like a regular election, sometimes a postal one, which involves lots of people and costs an absolute fortune (though by involving the electorate in this decision, can give your candidate a bit of an edge in the real election).

Anyway, if anyone can vote, how do you stop the other parties from sending their own folk round and voting for the worst candidate?

How should parties choose their representatives? Let us know in the comments.