Selby and Ainsty by-election: Candidates to replace Nigel Adams announced

Voters will be required to show ID when voting in elections.
The by-election in Selby and Ainsty will take place on Thursday 20 July. Credit: PA

Voters are heading to the polls to elect a new MP following the resignation of Conservative Nigel Adams.

Thirteen candidates are standing in the constituency of Selby and Ainsty, in North Yorkshire in the by-election on Thursday 20 July.

Mr Adams announced his departure in June, the day after former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who resigned after being informed that the Privileges Committee, which has a Conservative majority, had found him to have deliberately misled parliament and was recommending a 90-day suspension from parliament.

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It is believed Mr Adams had been denied a peerage in Boris Johnson's resignation honours list, which was announced earlier the same day Mr Johnson resigned, and was a key factor in Mr Adams' decision to resign.

There has been speculation that Downing Street wanted his name - along with that of Nadine Dorries, MP for Mid-Bedfordshire - removed to avoid by-election contests, although Number 10 said Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had no involvement in the final list.

Nigel Adams resigned as the MP for Selby and Ainsty following his omission from Boris Johnson's resignation honours list.

North Yorkshire Council, which will oversee the Selby and Ainsty by-election, has announced that voters will now go to the polls on Thursday 20 July to elect a new MP.

The candidates are:

  • Andrew Philip Gray

  • Claire Holmes, The Conservative Party

  • Mike Jordan, Yorkshire Party

  • Dave Kent, Reform UK

  • Keir Alexander Mather, Labour Party

  • Nick Palmer, Independent

  • Guy Phoenix, Heritage Party

  • Sir Archibald Stanton, The Official Monster Raving Loony Party

  • Matt Walker, Liberal Democrats

  • Arnold Francis Ignatius Warneken, The Green Party

  • John William Waterston, Social Democratic Party

  • Luke John Wellock, Climate Party

  • Tyler Callum Wilson-Kerr, Independent

Voting will take place from 7am to 10pm with the election count taking place in the evening after the close of polling.

The electorate has until midnight on 4 July to register to vote and until 5pm on 5 July to apply for a postal vote.

If someone is unable to vote in person or by post, they have until 5pm on 12 July to apply for a proxy vote.

Voters will need to bring photographic identification to be able to vote. The full list of accepted forms of ID can be found on the government's website.

Voters will be able to use expired ID if they are still recognisable from the photo.

Anyone without an accepted form of ID can apply for a free voter authority certificate by 5pm on 12 July.

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