The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
Candidates are chosen as city set for election
The country is set to go to the polls on December 12 after a General Election was agreed by the House of Commons on Tuesday.
MPs agreed by 438 votes to 20 to hold an election as the Brexit deadlock continued. The process was yesterday going through the House of Lords which was not expected to create any issues.
For residents living in the Peterborough constituency this will be the second time they have had the chance to elect an MP following victory for Labour’s Lisa Forbes in June’s by-election. It is also the fifth time they will have been asked to take part in a vote/petition this year.
The by-election had been called after former MP Fiona Onasanya was recalled by her constituents following her three month jail sentence for lying over speeding points.
Ms Forbes triumphed by 683 votes from Mike Greene of the Brexit Party after a high profile campaign for the constituency which voted overwhelmingly to Leave the EU at the 2016 referendum.
Both candidates have been selected to run again, as have Paul Bristow (Conservative), Beki Sellick (Lib Dem), John Whitby (UKIP) and Joseph Wells (Green Party).
More candidates are expected to be announced in the coming days, although it is unlikely there will be 15 like at the by-election where turnout was 48.4 per cent.
Ms Forbes had previously abstained on voting for an early election, but she backed it on Tuesday after an extension to the Article 50 process was granted by the EU.
While Peterborough is expected to be one of the most closely contested constituencies in the country, the North West Cambridgeshire constituency, which includes large parts of Peterborough, is historically a safe Conservative seat.
Incumbent Shailesh Vara has held the seat since 2005 and last time won with 58.6 per cent of the vote.
Labour last week selected Peterborough city councillor Ed Murphy - who previously contested the Peterborough seat - to stand against Mr Vara.
The Brexit Party has already chosen Liam Round to contest the seat, while the Green Party has selected Nicola Day.
In North East Cambridgeshire Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay (Conservative) is also defending a large majority. It is a similar story for Tory MPs Jonathan Djanogly (Huntingdon) and John Hayes (South Holland & The Deepings).
In Grantham and Stamford sitting MP Nick Boles has not decided whether to stand for re-election after quitting the Conservatives and sitting as an independent, while in Corby Conservative Tom Pursglove is defending a majority of less than 3,000.