The Brexit Pary has announced their high-profile MEP Alexandra Phillips will stand in the key marginal of Southampton Itchen, which includes Bitterne Park, in the event of a general election.

 

The parliamentary seat was held by Conservative Royston Smith at the 2017 general election with a majority of just 31.

 

Honoured to have been selected by the @brexitparty_uk as their prospective parliamentary candidate for Southampton Itchen. We'll make sure the Tories deliver the #CleanBrexit that the 17.4 million voted for. pic.twitter.com/8GSbmWv1FG

— Alexandra Phillips MEP (@BrexitAlex) August 2, 2019

 

Phillips was elected as a Member of the European Parliament for the South East constituency in the European Parliament elections in May  and appeared on BBC Question Time at the end of May (link to episode on iPlayer - login required) .

Confusingly a second candidate with the same name , but representing the Green Party, was also elected as a South East MEP in May.

Writing in The Guardian, chief political correspondent Jessica Elgot said that the Brexit Party, which is led by Nigel Farage, has “shown no sign of wanting to enter a pact with the Conservatives thus far” and had announced a number of candidates “it would stand in target seats at the next election, including in crucial Labour-Tory marginals”.

It was announced last year that former council leader Simon Letts would again fight “Labour’s number one target seat Southampton Itchen”.

The full results, reportedly following three recounts, for Southampton Itchen in 2017 were:

Royston Smith - Conservative 21,773 - Elected
Simon Letts - Labour 21,742
Eleanor Bell - Liberal Democrats 1,421
Kim Rose - UK Indepedence Party 1,122
Rosie Pearce - Green 725

The chart below shows how the votes were divided across the parties in Southampton Itchen:

 

CANDIDATE ANNOUNCEMENT 2#:

Congratulations, Alexandra Phillips!

Our Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for #Southampton #Itchen pic.twitter.com/ovovh178ne

— The Brexit Party (@brexitparty_uk) August 2, 2019