The Conservative parliamentary candidate for East Thanet is North Northamptonshire councillor Helen Harrison.
The 52-year-old has announced her candidacy for the East Thanet seat which former incumbent Craig Mackinlay will not now contest following his battle with sepsis and resulting quadruple amputation.
The chartered physiotherapist, who is the partner of disgraced former MP Peter Bone, was a director of Grassroots Out, a cross party Brexit campaign funded by millionaire UKIP donor Aaron Banks and backed by Nigel Farage.
Ms Harrison recently stood in a by-election in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, after Mr Bone’s constituents removed him as MP via a recall petition but her bid failed when Labour’s Gen Kitchen took more than 45% of the vote.
Ms Harrison was born in Kettering and grew up in a North Northamptonshire hamlet.
Delighted to have been selected as the Conservative Parliamentary candidate for East Thanet. So sad that @cmackinlay is unable to fight the seat this time. Such a brave man! pic.twitter.com/qcziqTpfPF
— Cllr Helen Harrison (@helenharrisonuk) June 4, 2024
She attended the University of Liverpool and gained a Physiotherapy degree, going on to work in the NHS in the Peterborough hospitals and GP practices before setting up and running her own physiotherapy business.
The mother-of-two has stood for seats in the 2015 and 2017 general elections and been an elected councillor since 2015 for East Northants District Council and then the new North Northants (Unitary) Council where she was Executive Member for Adults, Health and Wellbeing until stepping down to run in the Wellingborough by-election in February.
At a packed meeting of the East Thanet Conservative Association on Sunday (June 2), Helen was chosen to replace Craig Mackinlay as the Conservative candidate.
Helen said: “It is an honour and a privilege to have been selected as the Conservative candidate. However, it is very much tinged with sadness. Your former MP, Craig Mackinlay, was an outstanding Member of Parliament for this area. He is of the highest integrity, principled and brave. The terrible illness that struck him down, has left him unable to continue. He has dealt with the unimaginable challenge he has faced with the good humour, fortitude and courage.
“Craig and I share many beliefs. We both campaigned to leave the European Union, in fact I founded Grassroots Out, the second largest Leave campaign. And, like Craig, I was part of Leave Means Leave. I am concerned about the rush to achieve net zero at great cost to ordinary people who cannot afford it. I ran the Back Boris Tour in 2019, which was an integral part of a campaign to get Boris as our Prime Minister to deliver Brexit.
“I am living in the constituency and will be buying a house locally. As your MP, not only will I hold weekly surgeries and be available to all residents, but you will also likely bump into me in the supermarket or high street.
“My plan will be to set up a listening campaign. I will listen to the people of East Thanet, campaign on the issues that they are concerned about and deliver results for them. Whether it be protecting the Green Wedge and opposing unwanted overdevelopment, supporting the reopening of Manston Airport or stopping the boats, I will listen, campaign and deliver.
“I will always remember that I am East Thanet’s representative in Westminster and not Westminster’s representative in East Thanet.”
Other candidates for East Thanet are Polly Billington (Labour) Steve Roberts (Green) Jai Singh (Liberal Democrats) and Paul Webb (Reform UK).
At the next Parliamentary General Election, the current South Thanet and North Thanet constituencies will no longer exist; the boundaries were updated by the Boundary Commission and the new constituencies will be known as the East Thanet constituency and the Herne Bay and Sandwich constituency.
Westbrook, Birchington, Garlinge, Thanet villages wards and Westgate form part of a Herne Bay and Sandwich County Constituency while East Thanet takes in Ramsgate, Broadstairs and most of Margate.
The country will go to the polls on July 4. Electoral Calculus predicts Labour will take the East Thanet seat with 94% of the vote compared to 6% for Conservatives.
