Following the resignation of the previous Conservative candidate, Ian Oakley, Watford Conservatives have this afternoon selected a new candidate, Richard Harrington (pictured). 78 people applied for the nomination and the unsuccessful contenders in the final were Mimi Harker, Dominic Johnson and Janice Small.
Richard is hitting the ground running with a campaign website already online. Educated at Leeds Grammar School and Keble College, Oxford, he is a long-standing party activist who sat on the Executive Board of the Federation of Conservative Students and was a member of the National Union Executive of the Party. He is currently chairman of the Executive Board of the Conservative Friends of Israel and a party treasurer, in which guise he set up the Number 10 Club. In business, he founded a property development company of which he remains a non-executive Director, and is also a non-executive director of a wealth management business in the City.
Richard is also a former Fundraising Chairman of the Variety Club Children’s Society.
Watford has been held for Labour by Claire Ward since 1997, yet today is one of the closest three-way marginals in the country. Ms Ward has a 1,151 majority over the Liberal Democrats (who run the council with an elected mayor), but the Conservatives are in a very strong third place - less than 1,000 votes behind the Lib Dems with 29.6% of the vote. On paper it is 38th on the national Conservative target list, based on the calculations of Professors Rallings and Thrasher of the University of Plymouth, meaning that it would be gained on a swing of less than 2% from Labour to the Conservatives.
On winning the selection, Richard said:
“Watford has always been an important part of my life. I believe, with hard work and determination, we can show people that it is the Conservative Party that has the best answers to their problems. I believe I am a caring and compassionate person - that is why I am in Politics, it’s not for money, and it’s not for power. It is to try and help make all of our lives better. In the months ahead I will try my best to show people that these are not just words, they are central to my creed in life. Watford people are like everyone else. They are tired of being controlled, with rules and regulations, with bureaucratic interference by government, locally and nationally, who always think they know better. I will strive, with everyone who wants to help, to bring about change, for the better, for all of us.”