OLD Harlow councillor, Joel Charles has reached the final three in the selection process to choose the next Conservative candidate for the constituency of Ipswich.

Cllr Charles will do battle with Alex Deane and Tom Hunt in a final day of interviews later this month.

Suffolk lawyer and PR consultant, Alex Deane is seen as the favourite, He is often seen on Sky News and has been described as a big favourite who would be “a big coup for Suffolk”.

Tom Hunt is a former East Cambridgeshire councillor who stood as a candidate in Doncaster in 2017.

Cllr Charles is the deputy leader of the Harlow Conservatives and works as a Director of Government Relations and Impact at Future Care Capital.

Ipswich is seen as a key Labour seat that the Tories are keen to regain.

At the moment, the Labour MP, Sandy Martin has a majority of 836,. In 2015, the Conservatives had a majority of 3,733.