Iain Dale drops MP bid after Tunbridge Wells comments

The Tory candidate hopeful for Tunbridge Wells had said he "never liked the place"

Broadcaster Iain Dale has dropped a bid to become the new MP for Tunbridge Wells after previous comments he made about the Kent town emerged.

Mr Dale launched his campaign four days ago to become the Conservative candidate to replace outgoing MP Greg Clark.

But after quitting his LBC radio show to stand, a clip from a podcast emerged in which he said he "never liked" Tunbridge Wells and "I'd quite happily live somewhere else".

Mr Dale, 61, who has lived in the town for 27 years, announced he was withdrawing on Friday, saying: "I instantly recognised the problems with that."

He said the two-year-old comments would be used by political opponents if he were to continue and he "wasn't willing to suffer death by a thousand cuts".

Speaking to LBC, he said: "There is a context to (the comments) but nobody's interested in context or nuance in these situations.

"You just have that little clip and that would be on every single Lib Dem leaflet that was put out in the election campaign.

"I think I've recognised the political reality and I don't want to do anything that would damage whoever is chosen."

Mr Dale is a regular guest on political panel shows

Mr Dale said part of the reason he made the comments about Tunbridge Wells on the podcast was because of road works that had been ongoing for three months.

He said: "If I hated it that much, would I have stayed living there for 27 years? I don't think I would.

"Everybody listening to this now will have some complaint about where they live.

"I just put it in far too graphic terms."

'Bit silly'

On what the future holds, Mr Dale said he would reflect on taking time to make important decisions.

He added: “I’ve made the mistake of making a decision without probably thinking of every possible consequence, so it would be a bit silly to do the same again.”

The other candidates who have so far announced they will stand in Tunbridge Wells are Mike Martin (Liberal Democrats), Hugo Pound (Labour), John Hurst (Green Party) and Hassan Kassem (Independent).

The general election takes place on July 4