Priti Patel, a former adviser to William Hague, has spoken of the difficulty she has encountered trying to get selected as a Conservative parliamentary candidate.

Patel, a 31 year-old Asian, told ePolitix.com that after 18 months spent competing for a seat she had still not been picked.

"I suspect I'm not the compelling proposition that some associations have been looking for. I don't know what it is that just isn't tipping the balance in my favour yet. My family can't understand it," she said.

When asked if she thought her selection problems were anything to do with race, Patel said she would "hate to be selected in a tokenistic way".

"Some people think 'well she's Asian, she should go for a predominately Asian seat'. That sort of attitude doesn't appeal to me at all," she said.

When asked if she ever wondered whether she would have been successful if she had been white, Patel said she had considered the possibility.

"I have thought about it. If I had a different coloured skin it wouldn't change me as a proposition, but then again I do wonder. My fiancé, who’s not Asian, works in the City and I do wonder what would happen if we both went for selection, but I can't answer that as I don't know," she said.

Patel also discussed her two years with the Referendum Party and her time as an adviser in the Conservative Party during the interview.

She said that she had been accepted back into the Tory fold following her work for the late Sir James Goldsmith, but that the UK Independence Party "are completely different".

"They're talking about pulling out. I believe in being in Europe but not being run by Europe," she said.