JOURNALIST Paul Goodman is hot favourite to become the Conservative prospective parliamentary candidate for Wycombe at the next general election.

Wycombe Conservative Association meets tonight to choose between four hopefuls for the job, following Sir Ray Whitney's decision to stand down.

Mr Goodman, a comment writer for the Daily Telegraph, will take part in a question and answer session alongside the other candidates.

They are Wycombe district councillor David Evans, who represents Lane End and Piddington; Angela Harvey, who works for a Conservative think-tank; and Martin Howe, a QC specialising in European Law and a nephew of former Foreign Secretary Geoffrey Howe.

The candidate is due to be announced by the association following a vote at Wycombe Town Hall. More than 100 association members are expected to attend. The race to become candidate has been dogged by controversy in recent weeks with public outbursts by those not chosen.

There were 192 applicants for the position and 20 candidates were called to interview by the association.

The leader of the controlling Tory group on Buckinghamshire County Council, Mark Greenburgh, spoke of his shock after the association rejected his application without an interview.

He told the Free Press: 'I have worked as hard as I can to do my best for the county council and to represent the Conservative cause in Wycombe and throughout Bucks. Obviously that has not been good enough.'

Last week county councillor Bob Woollard claimed he was the target of a slur campaign after not being chosen. Wycombe Conservative Association said it would not comment on the process until it was over.