DAVID Rutley will succeed Sir Nicholas Winterton as the next Conservative parliamentary candidate for Macclesfield.

The father-of-four defeated five opponents at Saturday's (October 17) open primary, held at Fallibroome High School, to be crowned winner.

The former business director's campaign included championing the area's rural communities and aiming to revitalise the local economy, as well as tackling anti-social behaviour in Macclesfield town centre.

The joyous winner was joined on stage by wife Rachel to be congratulated by the town's MP for the last 38 years, Sir Nicholas Winterton.

David told the audience: “I'm just delighted with this outcome. I can't think of a greater outcome than to represent the people of Macclesfield. It's a tremendous part of this world. I love the heritage, I love the hills and I love the people.”

BBC North West journalist and Manchester Evening News columnist Jim Hancock conducted proceedings, interviewing each candidate with extra questions coming from the audience.

They covered topics as diverse as capital punishment, immigration and the European Union, The Express learned.

After the question and answer session began the voting - both of which the press were barred from - to whittle down the number of candidates.

Several rounds of voting slowly reduced the numbers until it was announced David Rutley will stand as the next Conservative parliamentary candidate for Macclesfield, which is widely regarded as a safe seat for the Tories.

First to go was Macclesfield-born Nicholas Gleave, followed by think tank director Sheila Lawlor. Next was London barrister Victoria Atkins, then ICI advertising boss David Senior. Warrington-based solicitor Fiona Bruce narrowly missed out, coming in second.

See this week's Express (October 21) for a full report, interviews and pictures.