Nigel Gardner has been selected as the Conservative candidate for the new seat of Harpenden and Berkhamsted. According to Electoral Calculus, it contains 47.2 per cent of Bim Afolami’s current Hitchin and Harpenden constituency, 35.8 per cent of Gagan Mohindra’s Hertfordshire South West seat, and 8.8 per cent of Hemel Hempstead, held by Mike Penning.
Gardner co-founded Flint Global, which provides political and regulatory advice to businesses and investors. Previously, he has worked as BBC political journalist, spokesman for the European Commission, and as a political candidate – for Labour. He stood for the Opposition in Suffolk Coastal in 2001, and then at the European Parliament in 2004 and 2009.
Of course, having previously changed parties has been no bar to political advancement in the past. Just ask Liz Truss. One local source told ConservativeHome that Gardner had been “a fan of Blair” who drifted away from Labour after he departed. Having grown up in a “true Tory household” – much like Tony Blair – Gardner has been a Conservative member since 2018 and has stood in council elections.
He was chosen from what a local called a “very strong slate of candidates”. A long-list of 6 were whittled down to a final 3 to face “around 70” local members in a single day-long process last Saturday. A long-standing party member and a veteran of many a selection council described those who had applied as “one of the most impressive” sets they had ever seen.
ConservativeHome has been told the long-list included two contributors to the site: Adrian Pepper was a candidate in Blaydon in 2019 and an ex-special adviser, and Sarah Macken was the candidate in East Ham in 2005 and Wolverhampton North East in 2017, and is the Vice President of UK Sales at Airbus. They were joined by Lucy Demery, who works for Barclays and applied for Henley as well as Bicester and Woodstock earlier this year.
The final three comprised Gardner, Louise Mackinlay (who is a councillor in Essex, and flew back from holiday in Spain to attend), and James Clark, a ConservativeHome contributor, an ex-soldier who fought Islington North in 2017 and 2019, and Executive Director of Conservative Friends of the Armed Forces. Gardner won on the first ballot, with Mackinlay placing second. Although he “expected to be asked” about his Labour past (according to a local source) but he was not.
He emphasised his local connections, pledging to “out Lib Dem the Lib Dems”. Both St Albans City and District Council and Dacorum Council are controlled by the Liberal Democrats, and Harpenden and Berkhamsted is one of their crucial targets. Polling has suggested it could be lost, and local members are aware “they have a serious fight on their hands”.
One local said to ConservativeHome that you now can’t “pop to the shops” on Berkhamsted high street without “bumping into Ed Davey”. “Demographics are changing” as young liberal voters move in. What was once a solid Conservative area – and has a nominal majority of 14,211 – looks tight, especially in a seat sandwiched between Liberal Democrats in St Albans and Chesham and Amersham.
Yet there was a “very positive energy” in the room on Saturday. As “the only seat Gardner wanted” – due to his local roots, ConservativeHome was told – he is well-placed to fight off the Yellow Peril. ConservativeHome wishes him all the best in attempting to out-perform his record with his previous party.
As ever, please contact me with any candidates and selections information you have at william@conservativehome.com.