Howard Flight quits

Mr Flight had been sacked by Tory leader Michael Howard on Good Friday, after he had been secretly taped at a meeting suggesting that Conservative plans to cut public spending were bigger than had been previously suggested.

The local association met last night (Wednesday) at the Hilton Avisford Park hotel in Walberton to pick a new candidate from a shortlist of three people.

The Conservative MP, who was first elected to the seat in 1997, had said he would fight the decision and possibly mount a legal challenge.

But in a statement, Mr Flight said: "With the general election now called it is clearly necessary to close down this episode.

"Above all, I would not want to be responsible for tearing apart the Arundel and South Downs constituency association.

"We have all been great friends over the last nine years in achieving one of the strongest and biggest Conser-vative associations in the country.

"I apologise for the trouble which this media spin incident has caused you all and especially to the officers who, I appreciate, have been placed in a very difficult position."

Mr Flight had a majority at the last general election in 2001 of 13,704 and had been deputy party chairman, with special responsibility for maintaining a special relationship with the City.

He also ruled out the possibility of standing as an independent candidate, adding that he and his wife, Christabel, were life-long Conservatives.

He wished the new candidate for Arundel and South Downs well and pledged to help win the Brighton and Hove constituencies on May 5.