Today the call has gone out for applications to the following six constituencies:
Two safe seats where the sitting MP is standing down
- Orpington - where John Horam recently announced his retirement. He will bequeath a notional Conservative majority to his successor of 5,221 over the Liberal Democrats.
- Spelthorne - where David Wilshire recently announced his retirement. He bequeaths a majority of 9,936 over Labour to his successor.
Two seats where a candidate recently stood down
- Caerphilly - where Craig Piper has just stood down as PPC. The seats has been in Labour hands since 1918 and the current MP, Wayne David, will defend a notional majority of 13,517 over Plaid Cyrmru, with the Conservatives in third place on 14.7% of the vote.
- Cambridge - where Richard Normington stood down as PPC last month. The sitting Lib Dem MP, David Howarth, has since announced that he will be stepping down as well. He will bequeath a notional majority of 5,834 over Labour to his successor as Lib Dem candidate, with the Conservatives starting in third place with 17.3% of the vote. The seat was Tory-held for all but one year between 1950 and 1992, when it was gained by Labour, who in turn lost it to the Lib Dems in 2005.
And two further seats in Wales
- Ceredigion - A seat which has a long history of Liberal/Lib Dem representation, although was briefly held by Labour in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and had a Plaid Cymru MP between 1992 and 2005, when Mark Williams regained it for the Lib Dems. He has a notional majority of 218 over Plaid Cymru, with the Tories in third place on 12.4% of the vote.
- Llanelli - A seat which has returned a Labour MP at every election since 1922, sitting MP Nia Griffith has a majority of 7,234 over Plaid Cymru, with the Conservatives in third place with 13.7% of the vote.
Applications for these seats must be submitted by Monday November 30th at Midday.
Jonathan Isaby
