Yahoo News Kent General Election Candidates 2024: Everyone standing including in Tunbridge Wells, Tonbridge, Sevenoaks and Canterbury
The General Election is fast approaching and more than 120 candidates across Kent’s 18 constituencies are after your vote
All but one of Kent’s 17 MPs before the election was elected as a Conservative, although Dover MP Natalie Elphicke has since defected to Labour. However, if polls are to be believed the county could be a lot more competitive this time.
Due to boundary changes the number of constituencies in Kent has increased from 17 to 18 with new seats of Weald of Kent, Tonbridge, Maidstone and Malling, Hearne Bay and Sandwich and East Thanet being created.
READ MORE: What Kent general election 2024 polls are saying with one week to go
READ MORE: The Kent General Election Survey 2024: Tell us what matters to you before you cast your vote
Long-standing Kent MPs including Greg Clark and Craig Mackinlay are all not standing for reelection meaning whatever happens the county will be sending a lot of new faces to Westminster.
Election polls and projections, including those from YouGov, Election Calculus and Election Maps all suggest that seats could change hands in Kent this time around with Labour, the Lib Dems and even Reform targeting seats in the county.
In Kent, all of those parties will be targeting taking seats and votes off the Conservatives while the Green Party will also be hopeful of significant vote shares in some locations.
Nationally Keir Starmer’s Labour will be hoping to form the national Government while Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives will be hoping to limit losses as much as possible.
KentLive will be reporting live throughout the night and the day after polling day, bringing you the results as we get them from our reporters at counts. For more news about the general election in Kent, visit our page here.
See below for a full list of Kent candidates. All poll and projection data is correct as of the time of publication but is subject to change.
Ashford
The constituency, which includes the towns of Ashford and Aylesford, has been the seat of former cabinet minister Damian Green since 1997.
He won the seat in 2019 with a majority of just over 24,000 votes, however, forecasts from YouGov, Electoral Calculus and Election Maps all suggest that the seat could be won by Labour this time.
Damian Green, Con
Sojan Joseph, Lab
Tristram Kennedy Harper, Reform
James Ransley, Consensus
Mandy Rossi, Green
Adam Rowledge, Lib Dem
Canterbury
Canterbury was the only Kent constituency to not elect a Conservative in 2019 with Labour’s Rosie Duffield taking the seat with a majority of just under 2,000 votes.
This time around latest projections from YouGov, Electoral Calculus and Election Maps all forecast a Labour hold with an increased majority.
Luke Buchanan-Hodgman, Social Democratic
Rosie Duffield, Lab
Louise Harvey-Quirke, Con
Bridget Porter, Reform
Henry Stanton, Green
Russ Timpson, Lib Dem
Chatham and Aylesford
Conservative Tracey Crouch has sat as the MP for the Chatham and Aylesford constituency, which also includes parts of Rochester, since 2010 but has stood down ahead of the 2024 election.
YouGov, Electoral Calculus and Election Maps are all forecasting narrow Labour victories over the Conservatives in the seat in the latest forecasts. Reform UK is also projected to take home a sizeable portion of the vote.
Nicholas Chan, Lib Dem
Nathan Gamester, Con
Thomas Mallon, Reform
Adedotun Ogundem, Christian Peoples Alliance
Tris Osborne, Lab
Steve Tanner, Social Democratic
Matt Valentine, Workers Party of Britain
Kim Winterbottom, Green
Dartford
Conservative Gareth Johnson has represented Dartford at Westminster since 2010 and won the seat in the 2019 election with a majority of just over 19,000 votes.
The constituency, which also contains the towns of Ebbsfleet and Swanscombe, will be another Labour target and YouGov, Electoral Calculus and Election Maps are all currently projecting a victory for the party.
Jim Dickson, Lab
Laura Edie, Green
Gareth Johnson, Con
Kyle Marsh, Lib Dem
Lee Stranders, Reform
Dover and Deal
The constituency, previously known as just Dover before boundary changes, was the seat of Natalie Elphicke, who was elected as a Conservative MP with a majority of more than 12,000 votes in 2019 before defecting to Labour earlier this year.
The seat is forecast to be a Labour win by YouGov, Electoral Campus and Election Maps.
Howard Cox, Reform
Penelope James, Lib Dem
Stephen James, Con
Steve Laws, English Democrats
Geoffrey Lymer, Ind
Christine Oliver, Green
Ash Payne, Ind
Sylvia Petersen, Heritage
Mike Tapp, Lab
Colin Tasker, Workers Party of Britain
Chris Tough, Ind
East Thanet
East Thanet is a new constituency made up mostly of areas that were previously in Thanet South and some that were in Thanet North.
Thanet South was the seat of Conservative MP Craig Mackinlay, who is standing down, while Thanet North was the seat of Conservative MP Roger Gale, who is standing in Herne Bay and Sandwich.
For East Thanet YouGov, Electoral Calculus and Election Maps are all forecasting that the seat will be run by Labour.
Polly Billington, Lab
Grahame Birchall, Ind
Helen Harrison, Con
Paul Holton, Ind
Steve Roberts, Green
Mo Shafaei, Ind
Jai Singh, Lib Dem
Paul Webb, Reform
Faversham and Mid Kent
Faversham and Mid Kent is forecast to be one of the county’s most competitive seats and is a possible three-way marginal between the Conservatives, Labour and Reform UK.
The seat is currently held by the Conservatives and has been represented in Westminster by Helen Whately since 2015 and in 2019, Ms Whately secured a majority of nearly 22,000 votes.
YouGov, Electoral Calculus and Election Maps all predict narrow Labour victories.
Mel Dawkins, Lab
Maxwell Harrison, Reform
Hannah Perkin, Lib Dem
Lawrence Rustem, British Democratic
Hannah Temple, Green
Helen Whately, Con
Folkestone and Hythe
Another seat where it could possibly be close between the Conservatives’ Labour and Reform, Folkestone and Hythe is currently held by Tory MP Damian Collins.
Mr Collins won the seat with a majority of more than 21,000 votes in 2019 but this time around YouGov, Electoral Calculus and Election Maps are all forecasting a narrow Labour victory.
David Allen, Fairer Voting
Marianne Brett, Green
Damian Collins, Con
Momtaz Khanom, Trade Unionist and Socialist
Larry Ngan, Lib Dem
Andy Thomas, Socialist Party
Tony Vaughan, Lab
Bill Wright, Reform
Gillingham and Rainham
The seat of Gillingham and Rainham has been held by Conservative MP Rehman Chishti since 2010 and he is again running for parliament this time around.
Mr Chishti won the seat with a majority of just over 15,000 votes in 2019 but as with many other seats in the county, this time around YouGov, Electoral Calculus and Election Maps are forecasting a Labour victory. All three sites forecast Conservatives to come second with Reform UK third.
Kate Belmonte, Green
Stuart Bourne, Lib Dem
Rehman Chishti, Con
Peter Cook, Ind
Naushabah Khan, Lab
Roger Peacock, Christian Peoples Alliance
Rizvi Rawoof, Reform
Peter Wheeler, Social Democrat
Gravesham
The constituency of Gravesham, which also includes the areas of Northfleet and Luddlesdown, has been represented by Conservative MP Adam Holloway since 2005.
However, the area did send a Labour MP to Westminster between 1997 and 2005 and in 2024 YouGov, Electoral Calculus and Election Maps are all forecasting that the seat could return to the hands of the Labour Party.
Matthew Fraser Moat, Reform
Adam Holloway, Con
Rebecca Hopkins, Green
Ukonu Obasi, Lib Dem
Lauren Sullivan, Lab
Herne Bay and Sandwich
This is a new constituency after the 2024 boundary changes. It is mostly made up of the old Thanet North seat, which was held by Conservative MP Roger Gale, but also includes areas that were formally part of Thanet South and Canterbury constituencies.
Polling and projections for the new seat are very close but all three of YouGov, Electoral Calculus and Election Maps currently forecast a narrow Conservative victory.
Thea Barrett, Green
Angie Curwen, Lib Dem
Roger Gale, Con
Amelia Randall, Reform
Helen Whitehead, Lab
Maidstone and Malling
Another new seat Maidstone and Malling is made up of around two thirds of the areas previously in the Maidstone and The Weald constituency but also includes areas previously in the Tonbridge and Malling and Chatham and Aylesford seats.
Helen Grant, who was previously the MP for Maidstone and The Weald, is standing in this seat.
YouGov, Electoral Calculus and Election Maps are all forecasting wins for the Conservatives, though some of the forecasts project a very tight race with Labour.
Gary Butler, British Democratic
Maureen Cleator, Lab
Helen Grant, Con
Stuart Jeffery, Green
Yolande Kenward, Ind
David Naghi, Lib Dem
Paul Thomas, Reform
Rochester and Strood
The seat of Rochester and Strood has been held by Conservative MP Kelly Tolhurst since 2015 and was won by a majority of more 17,000 votes in 2019.
The constituency also includes the areas of Chatham and the Hoo Peninsula and is forecast to be won by Labour by YouGov, Election Calculus and Election Maps.
Peter Burch, Heritage
Graham Colley, Lib Dem
Daniel Dabin, Reform
Lauren Edwards, Lab
John Innes, Workers Party of Britain
Cat Jamieson, Green
Kelly Tolhurst, Con
Sevenoaks
The seat of Sevenoaks has been held by the Conservatives since 1924 with current MP Laura Trott taking the seat in 2019 with a majority of over 20,000 votes.
YouGov, Electoral Calculus and Election Maps are forecast that the seat will narrowly return a Conservative MP but are split on if Labour or Lib Dems will be the closest challengers.
Adam Hibbert, Social Democratic
Elwyn Jones, Rejon EU
Laura Manston, Green
James Milmine, Reform
Denise Scott-McDonald, Lab
Richard Streatfeild, Lib Dem
Laura Trott, Con
READ MORE: All the Sevenoaks General Election candidates after your vote in 2024
Sittingbourne and Sheppy
This constituency, which also includes the areas of Sheerness and Hartlip, has been represented by Conservative MP Gordon Henderson since 2010.
Mr Henderson has stood down ahead of the 2024 election and the race for the seat this time around is forecast to be very close.
YouGov and Electoral Calculus projections currently forecast a narrow Labour victory while Election Maps forecasts that the Conservatives will hold the seat. All three forecasts also expect a strong showing from Reform UK.
Mike Baldock, Swale Independents
Sam Banks, Green
Matt Brown, Ind
Aisha Cuthbert, Con
William Fotheringham-Bray, Reform
Frances Kneller, Lib Dem
Kevin McKenna, Lab
Mad Mike Young, Monster Raving Loony
Tonbridge
Tonbridge is a new seat for the 2024 election but is mostly made up of areas from the previous constituency of Tonbridge and Malling with areas that were previously part of Dartford and Sevenoaks also included.
Former Conservative party leadership contender Tom Tugendhat, who was previously MP for Tonbridge and Malling, is standing in the area and it is forecast to be on of the Consevrative’s safest seats in Kent.
YouGov, Electoral Calculus and Election Maps also forecast solid Tory victories.
Lewis Bailey, Lab
Anna Cope, Green
Ian Grattidge, Social Democratic
Teresa Hansford, Reform
Tim Shaw, Independent Alliance
Tom Tugendhat, Con
John Woollcombe, Lib Dem
READ MORE: All the Tonbridge General Election candidates 2024 who are after your vote
Tunbridge Wells
Former Conservative minister Greg Clark has represented Tunbridge Wells since 2005 but has stood down ahead of the 2024 election.
The seat has been a Tory stronghold since its creation in 1974 but could be an area that provides a Lib Dem MP this time around.
All three of YouGov, Electoral Calculus and Election Maps are currently forecasting the Lib Dems as the most likely winners.
John Gager, Reform
John Hurst, Green
Hassan Kassem, Ind
Neil Mahapatra, Con
Mike Martin, Lib Dem
Hugo Pound, Lab
READ MORE: All the Tunbridge Wells General Election candidates after your vote in 2024
Weald of Kent
This is a completely new constituency for the 2024 General Election and is made up of around a third of the former Ashford seat, a third of the former Maidstone and The Weald seat and sections of the old Faversham and Mid Kent and Folkestone and Hythe seats.
YouGov, Electoral Calculus and Election Maps all predict a Conservative MP will be sent to Westminster with Labour and Reform UK competing for second place.
John Howson, Lib Dem
Daniel Kersten, Reform
Katie Lam, Con
Lenny Rolles, Lab
Kate Walder, Green
