Five parties to contest Broadland seat

Five candidates for the Broadland constituency, which includes most of the Reepham district, have started campaigning ahead of the general election on Thursday 12 December.
 

 
The prospective parliamentary candidates are:

  • Jess Barnard (Labour)
  • Andrew Boswell (Green)
  • Ben Goodwin (Liberal Democrat)
  • Jerome Mayhew (Conservative)
  • Simon Rous (Universal Good Party)

 
Mr Goodwin and Mr Rous are the only two of five Broadland candidates living in the constituency.
 
Ms Barnard is a Norfolk youth worker and county councillor councillor for the Nelson ward in Norwich.
 
Mr Boswell is an environmental consultant specialising in climate science, policy and law.
 
Mr Goodwin is a former RAF Tornado pilot and wing commander.
 
Mr Mayhew, a former barrister, is managing director of the Go Ape outdoor activity chain. He lives in Suffolk.
 
Mr Rous is the founder and first candidate of a new political party.
 
The Broadland seat is being vacated by the departing Conservative, Keith Simpson, who has been an MP for 22 years and held Broadland since the constituency was created in 2010.
 
Mr Simpson had a 15,816 majority at the last general election in 2017, in which the Conservatives received 57.9% of the votes, followed by Labour (29.6%), Liberal Democrats (7.9%), UKIP (2.8%) and Greens (1.7%). The turnout was 72.4%.
 
Earlier, Conservative election candidate Nick Conrad stepped down just 24 hours after being selected over “ill-judged comments” he made on the radio about a rape case.
 
The former BBC Radio Norfolk breakfast show presenter had been chosen as the party’s candidate for the Broadland seat. He was criticised for saying in 2014 that women should “keep their knickers on” during an on-air discussion about rape.
 
Meanwhile, the Brexit Party candidate was withdrawn before the deadline following a decision not to contest any seats held by the Conservatives.
 

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