The future of MP Damian Green is uncertain after he was rejected as the Conservative Party’s candidate for a new Kent constituency.

The 67-year-old, who currently represents Ashford and Tenterden, has not been picked to stand for the newly created Weald of Kent seat in the next general election.

Mr Green, who is acting chairman of the Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, was rejected by the Weald of Kent Conservative Constituency Association.

The seat, which would include Tenterden, is planned as part of a national redrawing of constituency boundaries in time for the next general election, which has to be by December 2024.

Ashford town itself would be in a smaller, separate seat, with its electorate falling from 94,054 to 73,546 voters.

Mr Green could still put his name forward to represent the Ashford area, but says he is now considering his future.

In a tweet posted this afternoon, he said: "I am disappointed not to have been adopted as the Conservative candidate for the new Weald of Kent seat.

"I am now thinking about what to do next and how I can best continue to work for the people of Ashford and support the government."

Mr Green, who lives in Charing, was first voted in as Ashford MP in 1997, replacing fellow Tory Sir Keith Speed, and has been re-elected six times since.

His majorities grew in almost every general election and multiplied from 5,345 in May 1997 to 24,029 in December 2019.

The constituency changes are put forward by the Boundary Commission for England and it will make its final report and recommendations to parliament by July 1.

Plans for the new Weald of Kent seat stem largely from population growth and it would have 70,362 voters.

It would take a huge section of the present Ashford constituency, also including Charing, plus parts of the present Maidstone and the Weald seat, such as Cranbrook and Staplehurst, and parts of the Tunbridge Wells constituency such as Benenden.

Ashford would gain the town of Hawkinge from Folkestone & Hythe.

Mr Green's deselection has fuelled speculation that Tory grassroots campaigners are targeting parliamentarians seen as responsible for Boris Johnson’s departure from No 10.

David Campbell Bannerman, chairman of the Conservative Democratic Organisation, which plans to “restore democracy” within the party, tweeted: “There is now hard evidence MPs allegedly associated with bringing down Boris are being directly held to account and punished by members.”

The organisation led by Brexiteers and Johnson loyalists takes issue with Rishi Sunak’s elevation to Number 10 without a membership vote.

"I was there and that did not feature in the meeting..."

Its vice-president Lord Greenhalgh denied Mr Green’s deselection was linked to Mr Johnson.

Cllr Clair Bell, who was at the selection meeting in her capacity as vice-chairman of the Ashford Conservative Association, says she does not recognise accounts that suggest Mr Green was not adopted because of his pro-European views.

“I do not recognise that... I was there and that did not feature in the meeting,” the Biddenden resident said.

Asked by KentOnline what would now happen in the process of selecting a candidate for the new seat, she says it is unclear and they are waiting for guidance from the Conservative central office.

Mr Green, who chairs the One Nation caucus of centrist Conservative MPs, was sacked as a minister in 2017 after allegations about pornography on his parliamentary computers.

He breached the Ministerial Code by making “inaccurate and misleading statements” suggesting he was unaware of any indecent material.

In his resignation letter Mr Green said that while he “did not download or view pornography on my parliamentary computers” he “should have been clear in my press statements that police lawyers talked to my lawyers” about it in 2008 and then raised it in a subsequent phone call in 2013.

Paul on Politics: Analysis from our political editor Paul Francis

Damian Green was entitled to bid to become the candidate Conservative for the new Weald of Kent seat under the incumbency rule set out by the party.

Under these rules, associations have to vote on whether to readopt MPs who have more than 66% of the electorate of a new seat coming from their old one.

Mr Green would have put his name forward perhaps expecting that if not exactly a shoo-in, he was in with a fairly decent chance of being selected.

The new seat, on paper at least, was - and probably will be - a Conservative banker.

With an electorate of 70,362, it incorporates Tenterden, Benenden, Cranbrook and two wards that were in Ashford.

Was he paying the price for his pro-European stance and an EU remainer?

Not according to those who attended the selection meeting, who contended that the issue was not one that was raised.

There is some incredulity among some Conservatives about the outcome. One activist said: “I thought it was some kind of joke... I find it incredulous.”

As a remainer, his position on leaving the EU was not exactly a secret, so it is possible it did not feature among the questions he faced.

It may be that his antipathy to Boris Johnson was a factor.

"No one doubts that he has been assiduous in attending to local issues..."

He helped found the One Nation Caucus, a group that aimed to unite MPs around a candidate in the leadership election in 2019 who would oppose withdrawing from the European Union without a deal.

His political high point was when he was elevated to the position of deputy Prime Minister under Theresa May; it was also his low point after the then PM sacked him as first secretary of state in 2017.

It followed an investigation that found he had breached the ministerial code of conduct after admitting to misleading statements about the presence of pornographic images on a House of Commons computer.

No one doubts that he has been assiduous in attending to local issues since being elected in 1997 - notably on the long-running saga of Operation Stack and Operation Brock, housing numbers and more recently on Eurostar’s decision to scrap stopping services at Ashford.

He says he is weighing up whether to put in a bid for the Ashford seat; still nominally a seat likely to return a Conservative MP.

He may decide not to, opening the door to other candidates who will be eyeing up an unexpected chance to get to Westminster.