TORY leader David Cameron has announced that the new Conservative candidate for the Totnes seat will be chosen by the constituency's voters.

In a pioneering political move, the Conservatives will use an open primary and an all-postal ballot of every voter, to select a successor to sitting MP

Anthony Steen became a casualty in the MPs' expenses row and announced he would not be standing at the next general election.

According to the Tories it is the biggest attempt ever undertaken by a political party to engage with the electorate in choosing their parliamentary candidate.

Every one of Totnes' 69,000 registered voters will receive a ballot paper, and a freepost envelope to return it as part of the open primary. It is planned that all the postal ballots will have been sent out by July 20.

It will be the first time that a candidate will have a mandate from the whole electorate.

Mr Cameron said: "This is the first time any political party in Britain has sought the views of the voters in such a direct way.

"It is an exciting opportunity to re engage with the voters in Totnes and give them a real say in who will be the Conservative candidate at the next election.

"I hope people will take part in this unique chance to have a real say over how politics works and who represents them."

The would-be MPs will have just half an hour to convince leading local Tories that they are the best man — or woman — for Mr Steen's job this weekend.

That will be just one of the hoops the parliamentary candidate hopefuls will have to jump through before they face a final public grilling.

The constituency was the first in the country to start a selection procedure following Mr Cameron's call for ordinary people to put themselves forward for the job.

Out of the 100 people who have stepped up to the challenge, around 20 have come from the general public with the rest coming from the formal party candidates list.

That has been whittled down to a shortlist of 11 who will be quizzed this weekend by the local Conservative Association's elections committee made up of nine of the association's most senior members.

Association chairman Heather Burwen said that each of them would be asked a set of fixed questions and they would each be given five minutes to make their own presentations.

She said that each interview was expected to last 20 minutes to half an hour.

Those that get through will then have to face a second round of interviews involving a huge panel of local association branch officers which could be as many as 48.

The candidates short-listed from this will end up before the 'primary' due to go ahead at the Torbay Leisure Centre in Paignton on July 25 when they will have to face the public. It is hoped the successful candidate will be known by the start of August.

Mrs Burwen said she had been 'pleasantly surprised' that so many local people had stepped forward.

"It is quite a huge step for someone who is not on the candidates list, to fling themselves into the ring," she added.