A full candidate list has been released
The full list of candidates for the Runcorn and Helsby by-election has been released. Voters in the constituency will take to the polls on May 1 to vote in the next MP for the Cheshire constituency.
A by-election was called after the resignation of Mike Amesbury as the MP. Amesbury stepped down after he was sentenced for punching a constituent in Frodsham in an altercation late in the evening.
The former MP was given a 10 week prison sentence which was suspended for two years after the incident. He initially spent three nights in jail before Chester Crown Court suspended his sentence.
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During the confrontation, Amesbury could be heard telling a constituent “you won’t threaten your MP again, will you?” CCTV footage played in court showed the moment that Amesbury knocked Paul Fellows to the ground.
Sentencing, Judge Ikram said: “I have to say I have seen a single punch to the head cause fatal injury in previous cases I have dealt with, but of course I note the limited injuries in this case.”
He added: “As a member of Parliament you could reasonably expect robust challenge from constituents and members of the public.”
Speaking about the altercation, Amesbury said: “I just saw red – a moment of madness which I will regret for the rest of my life.”
In the general election Amesbury won the seat with a comfortable majority of 14,696 over Reform UK. The by-election to replace him will be the first one for Keir Starmer’s government.
These are the 15 candidates who are putting their names forward at the by-election on May 1, listed in alphabetical order:
- Catherine Anne Blaiklock (English Democrats)
- Dan Clarke (Liberal Party)
- Chris Copeman (Green Party)
- Paul Duffy (Liberal Democrats)
- Peter Ford (Workers Party)
- Howling Laud Hope (Monster Raving Loony Party)
- Sean Houlston (Conservatives)
- Jason Philip Hughes (Volt UK)
- Graham Harry Moore (English Constitution Party)
- Paul Andrew Murphy (Social Democratic Party)
- Michael Williams (independent)