Henley Bi-election

Well Boris has finally resigned and the Henley constituency is up for grabs. Well not really because it is probably one of the safest seats for the Conservatives in the country! Boris had a majority of over 12,000 at the last general election out of a constituency population of around 70,000. The Tory candidate is John Howell a local man who bears an uncanny likeness to Biggins, of Jungle fame. He beat another local Conservative Ann Ducker by 2 votes in the local party vote last week.

It will be interesting to see if the Liberal Democrat candidate Stephen Kearney can make any inroads into the Tory majority and whether the Labour vote will be obliterated. Mr Kearney recently sttod in the Plymouth local council elections. The Labour candidate is Richard McKenzie.

Other candidates that I know about so far are-Mark Stevenson of the Greens and from UKIP, Chris Adams.

I suppose that we will now be inundated with leaflets in the Henley area and I hear that David Cameron will be visiting Henley on Friday, tomorrow.

If you have a view on the election or know any of the candidates please come on here and blog for us.

Thanks, Phil Chappell

So Boris has finally resigned and below is the list of candidates so far:
Consevatibe-John Howell
Lib Dems-Stephen kearney
Labour-Richard mcKenzie
Greens-Mark Stevenson
UKIP-Chris Adams

Mr Johnson announced his retirement from the House of Commons at his first news conference as London mayor.

He said it would be difficult for him to leave the constituency where he has been MP since succeeding former Deputy Prime Minister Michael Heseltine in 2001, with a majority of 8,458.

"It will be a huge wrench for me to leave Henley, which is of course full of the nicest, kindest and most wonderful people in the world outside London, but I do so, of course, because this job here in City Hall is simply too big and it is growing all the time," he said.

The most likely date for the by-election is thought to be 26 June.

Mr Johnson was re-elected in 2005 with an improved majority of 12,793 and a 53% share of the vote.

Do you know any of the candidates or do you have an opinion about the election then why not post on here.

Well the candidates are being announced now. For the Conservatives we have local man John Howell being selected just ahead of Ann Ducker. Apparently David Cameron was very keen on a local man standing. With Boris having had a majority of over 12,000 at the last general election it looks like Mr Howell has got a job for life!

Against him for the Liberal Democrats is Stephen Kearney. He recently stood in Plymouth local council elections. For Labour standing is I don't know. So can anybody tell me who is standing for Labour, and maybe any other parties and their candidates.

If you have an opinion on the candidates or want to voice off over an issue, either local or national, please feel free to Blog on here.

Thanks, Phil