On November 15, your paper published details for the four parliamentary candidates for The Cotswolds constituency.

But wait - one of the four hadn’t bothered to get back to you with his details.

Guess which - yes, that’s it, it was Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, until recently the sitting Tory MP.

So was that an oversight? Or was it perhaps a sign of arrogance and contempt for the electorate?

In a phone call a year ago, Sir Geoffrey had reminded me that his most recent majority was 25,499.

The implication? He’s fireproof?

This was an MP with no constituency office, who only rarely held surgeries.

He’s not easy to contact, although he does have a house in the constituency.

He has another in London.

He also owns rental properties in London, and has large family agricultural estates in Norfolk.

So, is Sir Geoffrey fireproof?

Well, don’t forget that the Cotswold District Council, which covers the Cotswold constituency, had been Conservative controlled until the Liberal Democrats took over in May.

It was the first time the Lib Dems had held power in the Cotswolds since local government reorganisation in 1973.

It made national headlines - ‘True blue Cotswolds turns Lib Dem’.

Sir Geoffrey’s silence on his details may be related to his more general reticence since October 1.

That was when he was removed from the Conservative Party Conference after a contretemps with security staff and the police.

In a letter that this paper kindly published on November 1, I suggested that he should stand down. Obviously he hasn’t. But neither has he said anything in public, as far as I can make out.

Interestingly, Sir Geoffrey had previously confirmed, under questioning, that he is a member of the European Research Group.

That’s the extreme pro-Brexit group of former Tory MPs.

But Sir Geoffrey’s Cotswold constituency voted ‘remain’. More contempt for the electorate?

So isn’t it time that Cotswolds voters demonstrated that their constituency is truly no longer ‘true blue’? They could do that by electing the only likely alternative candidate, Liz Webster of the Lib Dems.

I’m pretty sure she would not be contemptuous of any of us Cotswold dwellers.

Seán Maffett

Bourton-on-the-Water