Peterborough by-election: Fifteen candidates to fight seat
- Published
Peterborough has been represented by Labour and Conservative MPs over the years
Fifteen candidates for the Peterborough seat vacated by Fiona Onasanya have been confirmed.
The by-election on 6 June was triggered when Ms Onasanya was removed following a recall petition, after being jailed for lying about a speeding offence.
She won the seat for Labour in 2017, narrowly beating the Conservatives who had held it since 2005.
But UKIP and the Brexit Party will be hoping to capitalise on the city's 61% Leave vote in the 2016 EU referendum.
Despite moves by pro-Remain parties to back a joint candidate, the Lib Dems, Greens and Renew have announced separate ones and Change UK - The Independent Group is not standing one at all.
The by-election was triggered when Fiona Onasanya was removed following a recall petition
Change UK MP Gavin Shuker said the four parties had agreed to stand aside "in favour of a genuinely independent, pro-People's Vote and pro-Remain candidate" but blamed "senior Labour figures" for having "made it clear that they would strenuously disrupt the campaign and obstruct an independent candidate".
But Labour's Jonathan Reynolds said on Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú One's Question Time said Change UK's argument was "strange".
"Elections are contests between different candidates... so trying to somehow complain that political parties are going to fight against each other - that's exactly what elections are."
A Lib Dem spokesman said the parties understood "the need for a collective effort in securing a People's Vote and stopping Brexit" but moves to back an independent candidate had not been successful.
The candidate they had planned to back, Femi Oluwole, told the Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú he had pulled out over concerns his candidacy would hand victory to the Brexit Party and ultimately harm the campaign for another referendum.
The confirmed candidates are:
Brexit Party - Mike Greene
Christian People's Alliance - Tom Rogers
Common Good: Remain in the EU - Dick Rodgers
Conservatives - Paul Bristow
English Democrats - Stephen Goldspink
Green Party - Joseph Wells
Independent - Andrew John Moore
Independent - Bobby Smith
Labour - Lisa Forbes
Liberal Democrats - Beki Sellick
Official Monster Raving Loony Party - Alan "Howling Laud" Hope
Renew - Peter Ward
SDP Fighting for Brexit - Patrick O'Flynn
UK European Union Party - Pierre Kirk
UKIP - John Whitby
- Published1 May 2019
