Helen Whately will replace Sir Hugh Robertson as the conservative candidate for Faversham and Mid Kent, it was revealed on Tuesday evening.

After an unusual all women shortlist, the four candidates were whittled down to Mrs Whately during the General Meeting of Association at Maidstone town hall.

The 38-year-old will replace Mr Robertson, who announced his resignation in January after 14 years in the Tory seat.

Mrs Whately is a management consultant working in the health sector who stood against Lib-dem candidate Ed Davey in Kingston and Surbiton in 2010, where she increased the Tory vote share by 3.5 percentage points.

She helped to launch the first online film service in the UK for AOL and advised the Conservatives in Opposition on media policy.

She was a finalist in Wealden, North East Hampshire, South Cambridgeshire, Bury St Edmunds and Banbury.

Growing up in Surrey, her mother was a doctor and father a surgeon and she went on to read philosophy, politics and economics at Oxford University in 1995.

Mrs Whately beat three other women to the post this week – Kirsty Adams, a councillor in Bedford who co-owns a design and construction firm, Sarah Macken who had previously worked at the British Chambers of Commerce and Laura Trott, an adviser to the Prime Minister on Education and Family policy.