Tories scramble for by-election candidate after Chris Pincher resigns

While Eddie Hughes MP is already lined up to compete for Tamworth seat next year, uncertainty surrounds possible interim figure

Chris Pincher
Chris Pincher issued a statement that said he has 'made arrangements to resign' Credit: Richard Townshend Photography

Tory HQ is scrambling to find a candidate for a key by-election fight with Labour following the resignation of disgraced former minister Chris Pincher.

Conservative officials need to find someone to stand for the party in Tamworth even though they might get to represent the seat for just a year.

Eddie Hughes, the MP for neighbouring Walsall North, has already been selected to contest the constituency at the next general election.

But he has ruled himself out of fighting the upcoming by-election, meaning that the Tories will have to put up another candidate against Labour.

The problem arose because Mr Pincher, a former deputy chief whip, announced on Thursday that he was quitting the House of Commons.

He had been sitting as an independent since being sacked from the party over the groping scandal that led to Boris Johnson’s downfall.

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In a statement issued days after he lost an appeal against an eight-week suspension from Parliament, he said he had “made arrangements to resign”.

His announcement threw the Conservatives’ plans for the constituency into chaos and left them without a candidate to take on Labour.

Mr Hughes, whose own seat is being effectively abolished by boundary changes at the next election, has already been chosen to replace him.

But in order to stand in the upcoming contest, he would have to resign from his current post, which would in turn create yet another tricky by-election contest.

On Thursday, he confirmed that he would be staying put, saying he had made “a commitment to my constituents until the next general election”.

It is unclear whether the candidate who is selected to contest Tamworth this time around would get to be an MP beyond next year’s general election, since – if they were kept on – Tory HQ would have to find Mr Hughes an alternative constituency, which could prove tricky.

Tamworth up for grabs

The town has been considered a safe Tory seat in recent years, with Mr Pincher winning it by a comfortable 19,634 majority in 2019.

But before that it was a Labour stronghold in the West Midlands and Sir Keir Starmer will be eyeing up the prospect of winning it back, given the state of the polls.

The by-election is set to be held on Oct 19, the same date that the two parties will also go head to head in Nadine Dorries’ former seat in Bedfordshire.

There both Labour and the Liberal Democrats believe they are in with a chance of winning, which could split the opposition vote and favour the Tories.