Hastings MP re-selected as Tory candidate just weeks after she was deselected

Sally-Ann Hart MP has been re-selected to stand as the Conservative candidate for Hastings and Rye at the next General Election, just weeks after she had been deselected.
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Earlier last month, Hastings & Rye Conservative Association voted not to reselect the incumbent MP to fight for the seat at the next election, which is set to be in 2024.

Mrs Hart said at the time that the decision not to re-adopt her was ‘unexpected’.

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However, she appealed to the wider membership of Hastings & Rye Conservative Party following the decision and won the membership vote to be re-adopted as the candidate for the party for the next general election.

Sally-Ann HartSally-Ann Hart
Sally-Ann Hart

Hastings and Rye Conservative Association said she won the vote by an overwhelming majority.

Conservative election candidates are chosen at constituency level by their local Conservative Association.

An existing MP who wants to stand again must apply in writing to be re-adopted as the party candidate. The executive council of the association then votes, by secret ballot, on whether to choose them again.

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This is normally a formality and the vast majority of MPs are re-adopted with little fuss.

At the executive council held in February for Mrs Hart’s re-selection as the candidate, 14 members were present and the vote was a tie, meaning that Mrs Hart was not re-adopted. The chairman of Hastings and Rye Conservative Association resigned a couple of weeks later.

The new chairman of Hastings and Rye Conservative Association, Rob Lee said: “I am delighted to see the overwhelming support for Sally-Ann. She is an excellent MP, and we are united as an association to get behind her campaign for re-election in Hastings and Rye.”

Party rules determine that if a sitting MP is not re-adopted by the executive, they can appeal to the wider membership of their local party for support, which is what Mrs Hart did.

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Mrs Hart stated: “I am delighted and relieved to have received such resounding support from the wider local party membership. I look forward to going into the next election with a great unified local team supporting me, as well as a committed Conservative Government led by a fantastic Prime Minister. Together we are delivering for Hastings and Rye.”

Mrs Hart was first elected as MP for Hastings and Rye in December 2019 with 26,896 votes and a majority of 4,043 votes, an increase from the previous majority of 346 gained by her predecessor, Amber Rudd in 2017.

Before she was elected as an MP in 2019 at the last General Election, Mrs Hart served as a magistrate in Hastings and sat as a councillor on Rother District Council representing the Eastern Rother ward from 2015.