General election: Reform UK selects candidate to contest Scarborough and Whitby constituency

David Bowes has been selected as the prospective parliamentary candidate in Scarborough and Whitby for Reform UK ahead of the next general election.

The field of candidates in the coastal constituency now includes those standing for Labour, Conservative, Green, Social Justice, SDP, and the Reform Party.

With some parties yet to select or announce their candidates, the upcoming election could see the most candidates standing in the constituency in several years.

However, a date for the election has not yet been announced.

Mr Bowes, the candidate for Reform UK, said he wants to “champion common sense for our area” and highlighted “record tax, NHS waiting lists, immigration and debt” as part of a “trajectory to national decline”.

Reform UK, formerly known as the Brexit Party, was founded in 2018 with the support of Nigel Farage.

The party’s candidate, Mr Bowes, said his background is “predominantly pharmaceuticals” and that he lives and works in the area.

In his candidacy announcement, he added: “Let’s drag representation back to the people, let’s move away from the corporatism and self-interest so evident in past decades.

“We all deserve safe and clean streets, an infrastructure that works for us, and a consultative local policy plan that builds on the legacy passed on to us by the great men and women who built our communities.”

In a set of interviews this week, prime minister Rishi Sunak laughed off questions about when the next general election would be held.

The Conservative leader said he had “answered that question many times in the last few weeks,” and added that he could “unfortunately not” state when the election would be called.

By law, the latest that the next general election could be held is January 2025.