The Conservative Party candidate for the Southampton Itchen constituency, which includes Bitterne Park, has been revealed.
Article continues after this message...
Sidney Yankson, who’s currently listed as a Kensington and Chelsea councillor, has announced his candidacy on his website.
He says he’s recently moved to Southampton, first came here 33 years ago, and is a commercial barrister.
“...Over the years I have seen how fantastic Southampton is to live and work in. With excellent universities, a world class port and a historic football team, Southampton is a very special city.”
Yankson lists his service with the army reserves, his strong family values, “helping others and giving back” particularly through founding a charity to distribute solar lights to people without electricity in Africa, tacking local issues, supporting businesses and his success as a sportsman.
As reported, the current Itchen MP, Conservative Royston Smith announced last year he wouldn’t be standing at the next general election. Yankson will be defending the 4,498 majority Smith achieved at the last general election in 2019.
At the time of writing, political forecasting website Electoral Calculus predicts Labour would have a 99% chance of winning the Southampton Itchen seat if there were an immediate general election. YouGov also predicted a Labour win of the seat in January, based on data from December.
Of course, polls are not perfect, the political landscape is dynamic and voting intentions can change. And it’s still unknown when the next general election will be, although it’s understood the last possible date would be January 28, 2025.
As previously noted, Labour’s candidate for the Itchen constituency is Darren Paffey. Other parties’ candidates are currently unknown.