Last night saw two new parliamentary candidates selected:
- Hove: Cllr Graham Cox. A Brighton and Hove Councillor, Cllr Cox also blogs here. He entered politics in 2011 after a thirty year career in the local police, culminating in a stint as Head of Sussex CID. He will now hope to hold the seat, which Mike Weatherley won from Labour in 2010 with a majority of 1,868.
- Southampton Test: Cllr Jeremy Moulton. A Southamptonite born and bred, Cllr Moulton’s day job is as a pensions manager – by night he the Deputy Leader of the Conservative Group on Southampton City Council. He fought the seat in 2010, when he increased the Conservative vote share by eight percentage points, and reduced Alan Whitehead MP’s majority from over 7,000 to 2,413. He’ll be hoping to finish the job next year.
Both selections are a restatement of the growing importance of local links – not only is each candidate a councillor, each has a lifelong and current connection to the constituency.