New West Suffolk candidate to 'draw a line' under Hancock controversy

Nick Timothy, the new conservative candidate for West Suffolk, says he wants to move on from the controversy that followed his predecessor

The Conservative candidate chosen to fight Matt Hancock's seat at the next election wants to "draw a line" under the controversy of the present MP.

Nick Timothy has been confirmed as the party's candidate for West Suffolk.

He has promised to work hard and said listening to constituents' concerns would be hugely important.

Mr Hancock currently serves as an independent MP, having been suspended by the Tories in November after joining I'm A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!

Mr Hancock tweeted to say he believed Mr Timothy would be a "fantastic choice and make a terrific member of parliament".

Mr Timothy, a former chief of staff to Theresa May, said being selected felt "amazing".

He said: "West Suffolk is a place I've known and loved my whole life, my parents live in Hundon, my aunt married a US fighter pilot at RAF Mildenhall. This is a real honour."

"I don't want to go over things that have happened in the past. What I want to do is draw a line under that and move things forward.

"What I can do is make myself known to the constituency, work hard, listen and then come up with a proposition to help local people and hopefully people will judge me on that basis," he said.

Matt Hancock was suspended form the Conservative Party for appearing on I'm a Celebrity... Get me out of Here

He said he wants to take advantage of a "tech corridor" between Cambridge and Norwich which he believes will bring opportunities to areas including Brandon, Mildenhall and Haverhill.

Mr Timothy also said he was opposed to plans for a solar farm in the constituency but not opposed to house building if there is the infrastructure to support it.

"When we had new housebuilding in Haverhill the promised infrastructure never came. We must ensure that doesn't happen again," he said.

Despite the current opinion polls he believes the next election is "all to play for". He said: "If we can get inflation down so people's wages are rising faster than the cost of the things they rely to live on, then we can start having a better conversation with the country and politics will start to feel more normal again".

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Local Conservative association chairwoman Rachel Hood said people have been "rightly upset" over issues related to the current MP.

She said: "When you appoint somebody and they're elected to parliament you want them to be working hard for your area and putting West Suffolk on the map. At times West Suffolk has been on the map for all the wrong reasons."

Analysis

by Andrew Sinclair

Among local party members there is relief that they have a candidate after almost a year during which time their MP hasn't been very visible in the constituency preferring instead to concentrate on social media.

Mr Timothy was chief of staff at Downing Street under Theresa May. Now a political commentator he is respected in Conservative circles as a thinker who has ideas about what modern Conservatism should look like.

He will play a big role in the party after the election, whether in government or opposition... providing he can win his seat.