Conservative candidate favoured to win Old Bexley and Sidcup by-election

By Kiro Evans, Local Democracy Reporter

A Conservative friend of his is the favourite to replace the late James Brockenshire as the MP for Old Bexley and Sidcup tomorrow.

There are 11 candidates running in the by-election.

The vote on Thursday, November 2 will see all the major parties and candidates try and win the seat.

The by-election comes after the death of the former government minister in October, aged 53, from lung cancer.

The favourite to replace him is fellow Conservative Louie Smith, who was a friend of Mr Brokenshire’s.

He has been a Bexley councillor for eight years and says voters should elect him to get a “homegrown community champion”.

Mr Smith says: “I am fully committed to improving the lives of local people. This includes; ensuring our area gets it fair share of police officers; delivering improvements in public transport; working to improve access to health services – both GP appointments and at Queen Mary’s Hospital, and protecting our area from both overdevelopment and Mayor Khan’s Outer London Tax.

“I have lived in the constituency my whole life so this election is about much more than party politics. This is a unique opportunity for local people to vote for a homegrown community champion.”

He will face a challenge from Labour’s Daniel Francis, who is also a long-serving councillor in the area. Mr Francis is seen as the main threat to the Conservatives, who have held this seat since it was created in 1983.

Mr Francis said: “Old Bexley & Sidcup is my home, I’ve lived in Bexley all my life and I am bringing up my family here.

“Like you I really care about our community and it hurts to know crime is rising and the people running our country don’t seem to care anymore.

“I really liked James Brokenshire. He was a good man who knew decency matters in public life. I do too.

“I want to take the fight to parliament for our community to be a better, cleaner place to live. This is your once-in-a-lifetime chance to be heard.”

The Green candidate Jonathan Rooks, is a lecturer at London South Bank University and previously stood in this seat in 2010, where he finished eighth. The party describes him as a “long-term resident of Sidcup and true local champion”.

The Liberal Democrats are standing mental health worker and local campaigner Simone Reynolds.

She said: “I have lived experience of the local issues and will be a strong voice for local people taken for granted by this Conservative government and badly run Conservative council.

“I pledge to be a strong voice for families taken for granted, campaigning on more funding for education, children and social care. I will also oppose the Government’s manifesto breaking promises on state pensions and tax rises.”

Richard Tice is standing for Reform UK, previously known as the Brexit Party.

Mr Tice has previously said he would be campaigning for lower taxes and a referendum on net zero, and tweeted earlier that the migrant channel crossings is a “major issue on the doorstep”.

Other candidates include Elaine Cheeseman of The English Democrats, John Poynton for UKIP and Richard Hewison of Rejoin EU.