European political parties have traditionally chosen their nominees in party meetings, but in 2009, the British Conservative Party has been experimenting with using primaries to choose nominees. The party does this by mailing a ballot, at its own expense, to all the voters of the constituency or the city that is holding the election. This British blog on politics suggests that the Conservative primary to choose a Mayoral candidate in Bedford was not considered a success, and that perhaps the party may discard the idea.
The British Conservatives have also experimented with nominating meetings that work similarly to U. S. caucuses. That was the way they picked their nominee in the last London mayor’s race, who went on to be elected.
Maybe they will use that system instead of the primaries.
BTW: Daniel Hannan, the Conservative member of the E. U. who earlier this year lambasted Gordon Brown to his face, is a strong proponent of the open primaries.
From what Daniel Hannan has written on his blog, the movement for open primaries is alive and well.
Hannan is a member of the European Parliament.