Douglas Alexander is eyeing a return to Westminster nearly a decade after he lost his seat in the House of Commons. The former minister in the Blair and Brown governments is hoping to represent East Lothian, a key Labour target in Scotland. He will be up against the SNP’s Iain Whyte in a bid to take the seat previously held by Kenny MacAskill. The general election is expected later this year, with January 2025 the latest it can legally be held.
Labour is riding high in the opinion polls, making the bulk of the ex-MPs seeking to make a comeback former shadow ministers. Among them is Heidi Alexander, who resigned as the MP for Lewisham East in 2018 to become deputy mayor of London for transport. Although she thought she had left Westminster politics for good, eight years after entering Parliament, she was prompted to stand again for the South Swindon constituency after leaving her mayoral role in 2022. The seat is a classic bellwether, having a Tory majority of 6,600. Her opponent is Sir Robert Buckland, a former minister who has represented the area since 2010.
Two former Conservative MPs are standing again in Scotland, where the SNP has been in power for nearly 17 years. In Perth and Kinross-shire, which replaces the former constituency of Ochil and South Perthshire, Tory Luke Graham is out to regain the seat he lost to the SNP in 2019. He will face the SNP’s longest-serving MP, Pete Wishart.
The intensity and demanding nature of the job means that choosing to stand again is not a decision that should be taken lightly, says former MP Matthew Green. Although he has no great ambition to be an MP again, he was prompted to come forward as the Liberal Democrat candidate for South Shropshire at short notice only because he thought he was their best shot against the likely Tory candidate, Stuart Anderson.
The decision by 100 MPs to stand down at the next election and new constituencies created by boundary changes have provided opportunities for prospective candidates, both old and new, in what will be an intriguing contest
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