Tories confirm Lindsey Hall likely to contest Westminster North for second time in June election
Labour MP Karen Buck said she is prepared for a tough fight to keep the seat
28 April, 2017 — By Alina Polianskaya
Lindsey Hall came second in the 2015 election with 16,527 votes, to Karen Buck’s 18,504
CONSERVATIVES are set to name a sitting councillor as the party’s general election candidate for Westminster North today (Friday). Cllr Lindsey Hall, who represents Abbey Road ward, St John’s Wood, will challenge Labour MP Karen Buck for the marginal constituency.Speculation had mounted on who would be picked to contest what is expected to be one of the closest-fought seats in the country.
Malcolm Wilson, chairman of the Westminster North Conservative party, revealed last night (Thursday): “Subject to special meetings tomorrow evening, it’s Lindsey Hall.” Ms Buck, who has been an MP since 1997, currently holds Westminster North with a majority of 1,977. She has said she is prepared for a tough fight, as she launched her campaign this week, visiting residents on the doorstep.
Karen Buck MP out on the campaign trail
Ms Hall ran Ms Buck close during the 2015 election, polling 16,527 votes to the Labour politician’s 18,504. Westminster North is number 22 on a list of “target seats” for the Conservative party.
As well as being a Conservative councillor for Abbey Road ward since 2007, Ms Hall runs an art and antiques business in Mayfair, specialising in the arts of China with her husband Bob and one of her three daughters.
Ms Buck, who voted against the triggering of Article 50, said that she would continue to oppose a “hard Brexit” if she is elected. In a weekly bulletin she sent out, she said: “Let be me clear, if the deal which will be negotiated over the coming two years does not deliver for the people of this country I will vote against it. I’m willing to fight this election on the question of Europe and the crucial importance of not allowing what happens next to be waved through parliament by an anti-European Conservative party.
“But I also want it to be about more than that. “A society such as ours should be able to guarantee a decent quality of life for all and to make the investment – in educating our young people as much as in homes and transport – which will lay the foundations for the future.”