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Tory chair who said he was 'bloody loyal' to north picked for southern seat

06 June 2024 , 09:40
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Richard Holden has been unveiled as Tory candidate for Basildon and Billericay in Essex (Image: Getty Images)
Richard Holden has been unveiled as Tory candidate for Basildon and Billericay in Essex (Image: Getty Images)

A top Tory who claimed to be "bloody loyal to the North East" has sparked fury after joining candidates making chicken runs down south.

Richard Holden faces a backlash after he joined four other northern candidates parachuted into constituencies in southern England. He was unveiled as the Tory choice for the Basildon and Billericay in Essex, having previously been North West Durham MP.

A cabinet member told the BBC this had "gone down like a bucket of cold sick”. Mr Holden is not alone in fleeing to southern seats the Conservatives are . Four others - Kieran Mullan, Chris Clarkson, Stuart Andrew and Neil Hudson - have all been selected to stand in seats the Conservatives are predicted to keep.

After Mr Holden was unveiled as the candidate in Essex, a candidate who was standing said: “I speak for an awful lot of people who are outraged. There are several cabinet ministers who are fighting marginal seats and know they are going down. Not only has Richard given himself a safe seat, but he’s used a ridiculous process no one has ever heard of before. It’s mind-blowing."

Tory chair who said he was 'bloody loyal' to north picked for southern seat uhihriqhitdprwFour other former Tory MPs are standing in southern constituencies (Northern Agenda/Marianna Longo)

In February Mr Holden, whose seat was wiped out by boundary changes, claimed to be "bloody loyal to the North East" during an interview with ITV News.

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Labour candidate Catherine McKinnell, who is standing in Newcastle North, brutally mocked the Tory chairman - who is overseeing the General Election campaign. She said: "After his cringy claim that he was ‘bloody loyal to the North East’, the Tory Chair is keeping up his party’s habit of breaking promises to voters. Wherever he nests, Holden will find out that the public is tired of this failed Conservative government serving its own interests."

Mr Holden's nomination hasn't gone down well with local Conservatives. The party's group leader on Basildon council, Andrew Baggott, said the central Tory office decision was "shameful". He said he wouldn't campaign for the party chairman.

Mr Baggott said: "They have given no choice of candidate to the association, no choice of candidate to the membership. They have shown complete disrespect and arrogance to all the party volunteers, all the party members, hardworking Conservatives in this borough. They are shameful."

He added: "They are lacking in integrity, honour, and these are the things that the public looks for in the people they want to run this country." The Conservative councillor said association members were "exploring" options to fight the decision.

A Tory spokesman said: “Richard Holden was unanimously selected last night for Basildon and Billericay after facing questions from the local Association Executive.”

The exodus down south has seen former Crewe and Nantwich MP Dr Mullan head to the Bexhill and Battle constituency in East Sussex - where YouGov predicts a narrow Tory win. He previously said he wouldn't be standing again because of the "relentless party political campaigning" required.

Mr Clarkson, who had served Heywood and Middleton in Greater Manchester after winning a majority of 663 in 2019, is bidding to succeed Nadhim Zahawi in Stratford-on-Avon.

Further North, ex-Cumbrian MP Dr Neil Hudson saw his Penrith and the Border seat abolished. He lost out to fellow Tory Mark Jenkinson in the new Penrith and Solway seat. But since then he has been unveiled as the Tory candidate for Epping Forest in Essex. Mr Andrew, who was MP for the now-abolished seat of Pudsey in West Yorkshire from 2010 to 2024 - is standing in Daventry in Northamptonshire.

Dave Burke

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