General Election 2019: No major parties will oppose Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle on December 12
The Conservatives, Labour, and the Liberal Democrats have all announced they will not contest the Chorley constituency on December 12, in line with Parliamentary convention.
Convention states that the role requires Sir Lindsay to sit in the House of Commons in a politically neutral role, meaning he will not campaign on political issues.
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Hide AdChorley Council’s Labour leader Alistair Bradley said: “Labour will not be putting up a candidate as we are delighted to support Lindsay Hoyle in the election and believe he will continue to serve the people of Chorley as well in the future as he has for the past 22 years.”
Phil Loynes, chairman of the Chorley Conservatives, said: “We will be following convention.”
Lib Dem candidate Paul Valentine said: “As a main party we believe in upholding traditions. We stand by the speaker being elected unopposed. There’s no exceptional circumstances here to change that.”
Brexit Party candidate Mark Smith will also obey convention and not contest the seat.
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Hide AdBut Green Party candidate James Melling took to social media to say he has “every intention of representing Chorley Green Party in this election”, meaning that the ballot paper for the Chorley borough looks set to be a choice between the Speaker and the Greens.