Fight for Brentford and Isleworth Begins

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Ruth Cadbury to defend seat against Tory candidate to be announced next week

Ruth Cadbury has confirmed that she will defend the Brentford and Isleworth seat for Labour in the General Election due to take place on 8 June.

The Labour MP who has a majority of just 465 votes, will face a battle with the Conservative candidate - yet to be announced. It is likely to either be former MP Mary Macleod or Olympian rower James Cracknell - the selection will take place next Wednesday. Both of them appeared at a meeting attended by Justine Greening in Chiswick on Thursday night.

Ruth Cadbury immediately posted a tweet after Tuesday's announcement;“"Prime Minister committed to full Parliamentary term, but she's put party before country and plans early General Election I'm ready to fight to hold Brentford and Isleworth."

Ruth Cadbury MP

The Conservatives are drawing up a short list of applicants and arrangements are being made for a ballot of all fully paid up members of the Brentford & Isleworth Conservative Association of more than three months standing. The vote will take place at Special General Meeting of the Association which will be held on Wednesday, 26 April at St Paul's Church, Grove Park.

Former MP for the seat Mary Macleod who was defeated by Ruth Cadbury in 2015 has already confirmed that she wishes to be considered. She tweeted, “It was an honour to be #Brentford #Isleworth #Chiswick MP 2010-15. I will put my name forward again for selection, here in my local area.

“Watching from the sidelines over the last two years has only strengthened my resolve to continue this work, particularly given the significant changes we are about to go through as we leave the European Union. It’s important for local residents to have a strong voice in Parliament during this time, with a MP who knows the constituency well and can work effectively with colleagues at Westminster to deliver a stronger economy with real opportunities for all. I would relish the opportunity to use my experience, passion and knowledge to represent this brilliant constituency once more.”

The Liberal Democrats have announced their candidate as Joe Bourke. He came fourth in the 2015 election, behind Labour, Conservatives and UKIP, when the party had a drop of almost 20% of the vote in the constituency, (see table below) but he was now convinced that voters have had a change of heart.

He said, "The Liberal Democrats have paid a price for acting in the national interest by entering into Coalition following the last General election, but the sacrifice has been worth it. Liberal Democrat ministers in government have taken millions of low earners out of paying tax altogether, brought back real apprenticeships that train young people in needed trades, and put much needed money into early years education."

Mary Macleod won the 2010 General Election from Labour with a majority of 1,958. She then increased her vote in the 2015 General Election by 4,609 but narrowly lost out by 465 votes.

Brentford and Isleworth Constituency - Result 2015
Candidate	Party	2015 Result	2010 Result	%	Change
Ruth Cadbury	Labour	25,096	18,064	43.8	+10.2
Mary Macleod	Cons	24,631	20,022	42.9	+5.7
Richard Hendron	UKIP	3,203	863	5.6	+4.0
Joe Bourke	Liberal Democrats	2,305	12,718	4.0	-19.6
Daniel Goldsmith	Green Party	2,120	787	3.7	+2.2
Majority		465		0.8
Turnout		57,502		67.8

The Liberal Democrats former candidate Joe Bourke has announced he will stand again. There have been calls for the formation of a ‘progressive alliance’ which would entail cooperation between parties to attempt to reduce the amount of seats won by the Conservatives who are widely expected to win a substantial majority of seats. Mr. Bourke has said this is unlikely.

The Green Party is also expected to field a candidate, which in 2015 was Chiswick-based Daniel Goldsmith.

Brentford and Isleworth voted by 56.7% in favour of Remain and it is thought possible that Ruth Cadbury's opposition to triggering Article 50 might attract her votes from beyond her core support.

April 21, 2017