Candidates’ nominations have been confirmed for next month’s 2019 General Election – with few surprises among the Suffolk names seeking to return to parliament.
And we will be inviting all those set to contest the Ipswich seat to a special hustings we are running at the University of Suffolk on the town's Waterfront.
All those from Suffolk who were MPs in the last Parliament are seeking to return and there are Labour and Green candidates standing in every seat on December 12.
The Liberal Democrats are standing everywhere except Bury St Edmunds where they have withdrawn to give Green candidate Helen Geake a clear run.
The Greens have stood aside in the Liberal Democrat target seat of Chelmsford in return.
The only Brexit Party candidate left in the running is Nicola Thomas who is contesting the highly marginal Ipswich seat where Labour's Sandy Martin is defending a majority of 831 over the Conservatives.
She could yet have a significant impact on a seat which is one of the Tories main targets in the south of England.
There have been attempts by Conservative officials to persuade Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage to pull candidates from Tory/Labour marginals to avoid splitting the pro-Brexit vote - but when nominations came in it was confirmed that Ms Thomas was standing in Ipswich.
Both Mr Martin and Conservative candidate Tom Hunt say publicly that they do not think the presence of a Brexit Party candidate will affect the election result - but election experts are not so sure.
Most say that polling evidence suggests that in most places, Brexit Party votes damage Conservative candidates more than Labour - but in Ipswich in 2017 the vote was so concentrated on the two main parties that any damage may not be that great.
The former Brexit Party candidate in Suffolk Coastal, Tony Love, is standing as an Independent in the seat on a pro-Brexit platform.
We are running a hustings at the University of Suffolk's Waterfront building from 6pm to 7.30pm on Monday, December 2.
All the candidates for Ipswich will be invited and readers will be invited to join students for the event.
Entry will be free, but it will be by ticket only - and if you have a question you want to ask the candidates please indicate what it is and it may be called on the evening. Please apply by midnight next Sunday, November 24.
Please sent applications to paul.geater@archant.co.uk using the subject line Archant Hustings 2019. Please include a telephone number we can call you on - and each application is for a maximum of two tickets.
Alternatively please write to Paul Geater, Archant, Portman House, 120 Princes Street, Ipswich, IP1 1RS - but that has to arrive by Friday, November 22. Alternatively hand in an application to our reception by 5pm on November 22.
Anyone driving to the hustings should use the nearby public car park at Duke Street - there is no parking on university premises.
Four parties are contesting every Essex seat after the withdrawal this week of Brexit Party candidates from seats held by the Conservatives two years ago.
In both Clacton and the Harwich and North Essex seats there are also a number of independents and other candidates - Clacton has an Official Monster Raving Loony Party candidate.
All the seats are currently held by the Conservatives - although Colchester was held by the Liberal Democrats until 2015 and Clacton was held briefly by UKIP between 2014 and 2017. That party is not contesting any seats in the area this time.
Candidates nominated to fight election:
Bury St Edmunds:
Jo Churchill (C)*, Cliff Waterman (L), Helen Geake (G), Paul Hopfensperger (Ind)
Central Suffolk and North Ipswich:
Dr Dan Poulter (C)*, Emma Bonner-Morgan(L), James Sandbach (LD), Dan Pratt (G).
Ipswich:
Sandy Martin (L)*, Tom Hunt (C), Adrian Hyyrylainen-Trett (LD), Barry Broom (G), Nicola Thomas (B).
South Suffolk:
James Cartlidge (C)*, Elizabeth Hughes (L), David Beavan (LD), Robert Lindsay (G).
Suffolk Coastal:
Dr Therese Coffey (C)*, Cameron Matthews (L), Jules Ewart (LD), Rachel Smith-Lyte (G), Tony Love (Ind).
Waveney:
Peter Aldous (C)*, Sonia Barker (L), Helen Korfanty (LD), Elfrede Brambley-Crawshaw (G), David Brennan (CPA).
West Suffolk:
Matt Hancock (C)*, Claire Unwin (L), Elfreda Tealby-Watson (LD), Donald Allwright (G).
Clacton:
Giles Watling (C)*, Kevin Bonavia (L), Callum Robertson (LD), Chris Southall (G), Colin Bennett (Ind), Just-John Sexton (Official Monster Raving Loony Party), Andy Morgan (No Description).
Colchester:
Will Quince (C)*, Tina McKay (L), Martin Goss (LD), Mark Goacher (G).
Harwich and North Essex:
Sir Bernard Jenkin (C)*, Stephen Rice (L), Mike Beckett (LD), Peter Banks (G), Tony Francis (Ind), Richard Browning-Smith (Ind).
C: Conservative, L: Labour, LD: Liberal Democrat, G: Green, B: Brexit, Ind: Independent, CPA: Christian People's Alliance
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