I gather that in the final round of voting he fought off a very strong local candidate in Cllr Judith Wallace, Deputy Mayor of North Tyneside Council. (conservativehome.blogs.com)
Most often it comes down to how strong the local candidate pool is; for a hard - to - fill job, employers are often more open to talking with candidates from out of town. (businessinsider.com)
Equally, a strong local candidate already has a head start in a selectorate of very few people. (nextleft.org)