General Election 2019: No major parties will oppose Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle on December 12

None of the major parties are set to oppose Sir Lindsay Hoyle MP in the upcoming general election after he was voted in as the new Speaker of the House of Commons earlier this week.
Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle MP (Image: UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor/PA Wire)Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle MP (Image: UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor/PA Wire)
Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle MP (Image: UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor/PA Wire)

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.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Chorley 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.”

Lib Dems candidate for Chorley will not contest the seat on December 12 (Image: submit)Lib Dems candidate for Chorley will not contest the seat on December 12 (Image: submit)
Lib Dems candidate for Chorley will not contest the seat on December 12 (Image: submit)

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.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

But 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.

Related topics: