Richard Benyon Minister for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2009 until the 2010 general election when he entered government. He was also one of the first 15 MPs to support David Cameron's Conservative Party leadership bid. In May 2009, he was listed by "The Daily Telegraph" as one of the "saints" in the expenses scandal exposed by that newspaper. He was made Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in the first Cameron Ministry. and remained in post until the junior and middle ranking Cameron reshuffle of October 2013. In 2012, while Wildlife
Conservative Party (UK) parliamentary primaries Conservative Party (UK) parliamentary primaries Since 2009, the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom has experimented with the use of open primaries to select some parliamentary candidates. Three primaries were held ahead of the 2010 general election in Oxford West & Abingdon, Totnes and Gosport. More than a dozen primaries were held ahead of the 2015 general election. Michael Ellis was selected for Northampton North in 2006. Totnes was the first constituency to use an open primary to select the Conservative Prospective Parliamentary Candidate. The election was held in August 2009 and saw a turnout of approximately 25%. Due to