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		Local Man wins Tory Talent Fest Thursday, 9 October 2008 Rupert Matthews, a Conservative euro-candidate for the East Midlands, was the winner in a light-hearted competition at the Conservative Conference in Birmingham last week. The show, "Tories Got Talent", was open to Conservatives of all backgrounds, including bloggers, writers, candidates and political assistants, and took place in The Freedom Zone, a major two-day fringe event at the Conference, sponsored by The Freedom Association. Contestants included other euro-candidates like Zehra Zaidi from the South West and Therese Coffey from the South East, as well as Shane Greer, of Total Politics, Tim Aker, of The Taxpayers Alliance, and James Cleverly, a London Assembly member. Each candidate spoke for three minutes on a political subject of their choice. Rupert's winning speech was about Europe -- appropriately enough. The judging panel included Jonathan Isaby of The Daily Telegraph, Nadine Dorries MP and Iain Dale of the well-known political blog, and the prize was a bottle of champagne. Commenting on Rupert's win, local MEP Roger Helmer, who is also Hon. Chairman of The Freedom Association, said "I am delighted that Rupert, one of our candidates for the East Midlands, did so well in this competition. This is the type of event which allows our up and coming stars to shine, and Rupert did just that. I am pleased that we have a very strong team full of talented people for next year's euro-elections, and we are raring to go".