The rejection of Education Minister Randy Horton as a candidate in the next general election is far from a fait accompli, the Progressive Labour Party insisted last night.

It is understood Mr. Horton suffered a shock defeat to a rival candidate in a vote in his Southampton West constituency branch on Thursday night.

Yesterday, PLP spokesman Wentworth Christopher said he was still unable to confirm the result — but stressed a number of other factors would be taken into consideration before the party announced its list of contenders for the 36 seats across the Island.

"There are going to be those who have seen something in the paper about Mr. Horton and think it's a fait accompli, but that is not the case," said Mr. Christopher.

"So many people have spoken to me about it — I have had people coming up to me in church asking about it. But it may subsequently prove to be the case (that Mr. Horton stands as a candidate)."

Mr. Christopher said the vote would form the basis of the branch's recommendation to the party's central committee. However, before making a final decision the committee will also use an independent research firm to poll constituencies, while Premier Ewart Brown is also expected to have a say in the matter.

All the PLP's branch committees are currently going through a process to decide their recommended candidates for the next election. Mr. Christopher said he was not able to confirm any results so far.

Mr. Horton did not respond to several phone calls and e-mails from The Royal Gazette over the weekend.