The Conservative Party is yet to select candidates in eight parliamentary constituencies across London ahead of the general election, with Friday’s deadline (7 June) fast approaching.
This comes amid reports that the party is scrambling to find over 100 candidates across the UK, with 48 hours to go.
The eight London constituencies where the Conservative Party lack candidates are as follows:
Bethnal Green and Stepney
A new constituency drawn up after the 2019 election, Bethnal Green and Stepney is one of three in the borough of Tower Hamlets, along with Poplar and Limehouse and Stratford and Bow.
Before parliament was dissolved on 30 May, Labour’s Apsana Begum and Rushanara Ali held the two available seats in the area.
In this election, the unknown Tory candidate in Bethnal Green and Stepney will face Ali (previously representing Bethnal Green and Bow) as well as the Lib Dems’ Rabina Khan, Reform’s Peter Sceats, the Social Democrat Party’s Jonathon Mabbutt and Independent candidate Ajmal Masroor.
The Green Party has also yet to nominate a candidate following Elizabeth Waight withdrawing over allegedly anti-Semitic Tweets.
Dulwich and West Norwood
This seat was won comfortable by Labour’s Helen Hayes in 2019, with former Green co-leader Jonathan Bartley pipping Conservative Jane Lyons for second place.
Hayes will run again this time along with Green’s Pete Elliott, the Lib Dems’ Donna Harris, Reform’s Gary Stevens and the Workers Party’s Zhafaran Malik Qayum.
Greenwich and Woolwich
The Labour incumbent in Greenwich and Woolwich, Matthew Pennycook, will run again this year, alongside the Lib Dems’ Chris Annous, the Green Party’s Stacy Smith and Reform’s Clinton Wright.
A Conservative candidate has not yet been named.
Previous candidate Thomas Turrell is presumably off the cards, having been elected to represent Bexley and Bromley in the London Assembly in May.
Congratulations to @ThomasFTurrell on his excellent victory in the GLA election for Bexley and Bromley. Looking forward to working closely with him pic.twitter.com/c7HfSsD2br
— Sir David Evennett (@DavidAEvennett) May 5, 2024
Hackney North and Stoke Newington
It’s been right in the spotlight so far this campaign, following an internal row in the Labour Party about the potential deselection of Diane Abbott.
But with Abbott now confirmed as the Labour candidate, after a landslide victory last election, who will the Tories put forward to rival her?
It was announced in September 2023 that the previous Conservative candidate in Hackney North and Stoke Newington, Ben Obese-Jecty, had been selected to run in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire in the upcoming election.
Hackney South and Shoreditch
Labour’s Meg Hillier will attempt to hold her seat in Hackney South and Shoreditch this election, another Labour stronghold.
Other candidates include the Lib Dems’ Theodore Roos, Reform’s Peter Smorthit, the Green Party’s Laura-Louise Fairley and the Workers Party’s Leon Eshuru.
A Conservative candidate is yet to be announced.
Lewisham East
Similarly, the Lewisham East seat will be defended by Labour’s Janet Daby, against Reform’s Ruth Handyside, the Green Party’s Michael Herron and the Lib Dems’ Callum James Littlemore, with the Conservatives seemingly scrambling to put foward their candidate.
Peckham
Peckham is another redrawn constituency this election, previously overlapping with much of Camberwell and Peckham.
As a result of the redrawn boundaries, the constituency will now include North Walworth, Faraday and Old Kent Road wards, but exclude Peckham Rye Park.
Miatta Fahnbulleh has taken over from Harriet Harman as the Labour candidate, against the Lib Dems’ David Watson and the Green Party’s Claire Frances Sheppard.
Tottenham
The Tottenham seat was won last election by Labour’s David Lammy, Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, who will seek to retain this position this time round.
Also running are the Greens David Craig, Reform UK’s Roger Gravett, Independent Nandita Lal, the Workers Party’s Jennifer Obaseki and Liberal Democrat Durgesh Hari Prabu.
