London Tories are pushing back on claims that CCHQ or Downing Street interfered with the Mayoral selection process to deny Paul Scully a spot in the final three last night. While Scully was initially a frontrunner, his omission from the shortlist – now Susan Hall, Daniel Korski and Mozammel Hossain KC – prompted claims Number 10 had waded in to block Scully to avoid a by-election. There are enough of those already, after all…

Sources close to the 24-member selection board insist there’s no conspiracy – it’s more that Scully was “tarnished with the psychodrama” of last year and an outsider is a stronger bet against Khan. It was not, supposedly, a diktat from CCHQ. One source told Guido “Khan would have loved to run against Paul” given his many media appearances defending the government over the last 18 months. “The appetite in the room is that we need someone who can win, and the person to win is an outsider”…

Of the final three, previously unknown Mozammel Hossain is said to have won the room yesterday, although it’s still to play for. Born in Bangladesh, Hossain is a criminal barrister appointed a King’s Counsel in 2019, having moved to the UK in 1995. He’s expected to win Iain Duncan Smith’s endorsement today, with Guido hearing he’ll pick up several other big hitters this week. Daniel Korski has already earned the backing of Michael Gove, Bim Afolami and Andrew Griffith. Susan Hall, who until recently headed the City Hall Conservatives, is pitching herself as the “grassroots candidate” known for her fierce exchanges with Sadiq Khan during Mayor’s Question Time. Although there are whispers her decision to stand down as City Hall Tory leader was less voluntary and more ‘encouraged’…