Olympic rowing champion James Cracknell to stand to be Conservative MP for Colchester

Olympic rowing champion James Cracknell will run as a Conservative candidate at the next general election.

The two-time Olympic gold medallist has been confirmed as the Tory candidate in Colchester, where local MP Will Quince is standing down.

Paul Dundas, the Conservative group leader in Colchester, predicted success for the top athlete in the seat.

The Conservatives currently hold a 9,000 vote majority over Labour in the Essex constituency.

Mr Dundas congratulated Mr Cracknell and said that he had topped a long list of applicants.

“James was the clear choice of members. I think he will be a fantastic candidate and a great MP for Colchester.

“He will win because he is a guy who doesn’t do losing.”

It is not the first time Mr Cracknell has been linked with standing for the Conservatives - in May he declared an interest in becoming the candidate for the famous rowing town of Henley.

At the time he told the Sunday Telegraph that the South Oxfordshire town had a "special place" in his heart.

"I rowed there from when I was 18, bought my first house in the town and had my first child when I lived there.

"So many of my best personal and professional memories are from my time in Henley.

"The town and community always supported and championed its rowers."

Mr Cracknell and his coxless four crew won gold in the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games.

He also rowed for Cambridge in the 2019 men's boat race, becoming the oldest competitor to win.

He has long been linked with the Conservatives, with multiple reports over the years that the sportsman was seeking a Tory seat.

In 2014 he stood to be an MEP for the party in the European elections in south west England.

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