While all the attention is on the Labour marginal of Batley and Spen (July 1) there is another Westminster seat to be decided before then - Chesham and Amersham on June 17. The by-election is being held due to the death of the incumbent Conservative, Cheryl Gillan, who died of cancer in April aged 68. However, unlike the Batley and Spen by-election of 2016, held following the murder of Labour's Jo Cox, there will be no free pass for the Tory candidate here.
In 2016 all the main parties stood aside and did not contest the by-election to decide Cox's successor. Labour's Tracy Brabin was the clear winner on a ballot on which there was no candidate from the Conservatives, Lib Dems or Greens. That won't be the case in Tory-held Chesham, where none of the main parties have stood aside.
The Tories go into the by-election defending a comfortable 16,223 majority. Also contesting the seat will be Reform UK, the previously unheard of Breakthrough Party (a new far left party), the remoaner Rejoin EU and the Freedom Alliance (a party formed to oppose coronavirus restrictions).
Chesham and Amersham candidates
Carolyne Culver (Green)
Brendan Donnelly (Rejoin)
Peter Fleet (Con)
Sarah Green (LDem)
Carla Gregory (Breakthrough)
Adrian Oliver (Freedom)
Natasa Pantelic (Lab)
Alex Wilson (Reform)
Chesham and Amersham, 2019 general election
Cheryl Gillan (Con) 30,850 (55.4%) -5.3%
Dan Gallagher (LDem) 14,627 (26.3%) +13.3%
Matt Turmaine (Lab) 7,166 (12.9%) -7.7%
Alan Booth (Green) 3,042 (5.5%) +2.5%
