Lib Dem First to Declare Candidacy in General Election
Jon Ball says he will campaign in Ealing Central and Acton
Rupa Huq celebrates her 2015 win with Steve Pound
Within minutes of Theresa May announcing a snap General Election, Jon Ball has announced that he will be standing for the Ealing Central and Acton constituency on behalf of the Liberal Democrats.
He said: ''"This election provides Ealing and Acton residents with a chance to stop Theresa May's damaging policy of hard Brexit. The only way to deprive May of a majority in this election is for the Liberal Democrats to gain seats from both the Conservatives and Labour. Ealing and Acton residents voted to remain in last year's referendum. You now have a chance to stop a hard Brexit by voting Liberal Democrat in June."
The move seems to rule out any pro-Remain alliance in the seat which voted strongly against leaving the European Union in last year's referendum. There had been some suggestions earlier that the Liberal Democrats would not contest marginal seats with Labour MPs who had voted in Parliament against Brexit.
Jon Ball
Labour have won the Ealing Central and Acton seat in 2015 with a small majority. The MP for the constituency is currently Dr Rupa Huq who beat the incumbent Conservative, Angie Bray with a majority of just 274 votes.
It is understood that planned boundary changes will not be put into effect in time for the election and that it will be contested using the previous boundaries. This means that plans to incorporate the part of Chiswick which lies in the constituency into a new Brentford and Chiswick seat will not be implemented before the vote.
Rupa Huq said: '' The Prime Minister has put the interests of party before those of the country. Theresa May who stated on 7 separate occasions she wouldn’t call a snap election has performed a monumental u- turn and this shows how she and her government simply can’t be trusted.
''I will be fighting this election on my record of opposing the Tory government, which all polls indicate and its hard Brexit, disastrous plans for the NHS, cuts in local school budgets in Ealing, Acton and Chiswick and austerity Britain. Labour remains to best hope for this this, other spoiler parties would only hand the seat to the Tories.
''It has been the greatest honour of my life to serve my home community and represent the streets I grew up in as MP and I look forward to continuing doing so.''
| Ealing Central and Acton - May 2015 | ||||
Candidate |
Party |
Votes | % | Change |
Huq, Rupa |
Labour Party |
22,000 |
43.2 |
+13.1 |
Bray, Angie |
Conservative |
21,728 |
42.7 |
+4.7 |
Ball, Jon |
Liberal Democrat |
3,106 |
6.1 |
-21.5 |
Florence, Peter |
UK Independence Party |
1,926 |
3.8 |
+2.2 |
Sharman, Tom |
Green Party |
1,841 |
3.6 |
+2.1 |
Notley, Jonathan |
Independent |
126 |
0.2 |
+0.2 |
| Dore, Scott | Workers' Revolutionary Party | 73 |
0.1 |
+0.1 |
| Rygielski, Andrzej | Europeans Party | 64 |
0.1 |
+0.1 |
Rendle, Tammy |
Above and Beyond |
39 |
0.1 |
+0.1 |
|
Majority |
274 |
0.0 |
||
Turnout |
71.4 |
0.5 |
||
In 2010, Angie Bray won the newly created seat with a majority of 3,716, representing a swing from Labour to the Conservatives of 5%.
Result From May 2010
Candidate |
Party |
Votes | % | Change* |
Bray, Angie |
Conservative |
17,944 |
38.0 |
+6.8 |
Mahfouz, Bassam |
Labour Party |
14,228 |
30.1 |
-3.2 |
Ball, Jon |
Liberal Democrat |
13,041 |
27.6 |
-3.0 |
Carter, Julie |
UK Independence Party |
765 |
1.6 |
+1.6 |
Edwards, Sarah |
Green Party |
737 |
1.6 |
-3.3 |
Fernandes, Suzanne |
Christian Party |
295 |
0.6 |
+0.6 |
Akaki, Sam |
Independent |
190 |
0.4 |
+0.4 |
Majority |
3716 |
7.9 |
||
Turnout |
47,200 |
74.3 |
||
* Change is based on notional constituency assuming boundary changes applied in 2005
We await to hear which other candidates will be standing.
April 19 2017 (updated)