Parties launch local election campaigns, as full list of candidates for Warwick confirmed

Candidates from across the political spectrum have begun to launch their general election campaigns, as the list of candidates for the Warwick area was confirmed.

Nominations formally closed on 7 June for those wishing to stand in the upcoming election, with local campaigns now underway across the country as candidates vying for election to the House of Commons seek support from voters.

Nine candidates are fighting for election in Coventry South, while six candidates are seeking election in the nearby constituency of Warwick and Leamington. The two seats represent the term-time residencies for most of Warwick’s students.

Both constituencies were won by the Labour Party in the 2019 election. Both Zarah Sultana and Matt Western, the incumbent MPs for the seats, are seeking re-election in July.

They’ve slashed funding for public services, run our schools and hospitals into the ground, and overseen an unprecedented fall in living standards

Zarah Sultana, Labour candidate for Coventry South

Sultana recently launched her campaign in Coventry, alongside former Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker, and Ali Milani, National Chair of the Labour Muslim Network.

Speaking at the launch, Sultana launched a scathing attack on the Conservative government, saying that: “They’ve slashed funding for public services, run our schools and hospitals into the ground, and overseen an unprecedented fall in living standards.”

Since her election in 2019, Sultana suggested that she had supported local services and promoted the interests of local people. She stressed her support for the area in acts such as raising £13,000 for Coventry Foodbank, and proposing a law to end childhood hunger in schools.

Residents are looking for a local MP with British values who puts Coventry South first. The choice is quite clear

Mattie Heaven, Conservative candidate for Coventry South

Sultana’s closest opponent in the 2019 election was Conservative candidate, Mattie Heaven, who Sultana beat by a margin of just 401 votes.

Heaven, a Tory councillor for Coventry, has launched her own campaign to unseat the Labour candidate in the July election. Commenting on X, she issued an attack back at Labour, arguing that: “Residents are looking for a local MP with British values who puts Coventry South first. The choice is quite clear. Coventry South deserves better!”

Among the other candidates seeking election in Coventry South is the Independent candidate Niko Omilana, 26. Known for his comedy sketches and pranks on YouTube, Omilana stood in the London mayoral election in 2021, placing fifth, the highest-placed independent candidate in the election.

There are 11 candidates across the country standing under the name ‘Niko Omilana’

Observers on social media have however noted that there are 11 candidates across the country standing under the name ‘Niko Omilana’. Speaking on X, Omilana stated that he is “running for Prime Minister” by taking on Rishi Sunak in his Richmond and Northallerton seat, and that “we have done the impossible” by entering himself in numerous constituencies across the country in order to “get more votes than anyone else and declare [himself] as Prime Minister.”

Given that electoral law bars candidates from standing in more than one constituency, it has been suggested that the other Omilanas, such as the one in Coventry South, may be separate individuals affiliated with the influencer, who have legally changed their name.

In the Warwick and Leamington constituency, the Conservative Party have launched their campaign to challenge Labour, who have held the seat since 2017. The Conservative candidate, James Uffindell, launched his campaign by meeting with local business leaders in Leamington Spa, with a focus in his campaign on supporting economic growth in the region.

It is my mission to support growth in this area

James Uffindell, Conservative candidate for Warwick and Leamington

Speaking at the launch of his campaign, Uffindell said that: “It is my mission to support growth in this area, help people into good employment positions, support the incredible NHS services on our doorstep and secure a good quality of education for our young people.”

Matt Western, who has been the MP for the area since 2017, has also launched his campaign for re-election. Echoing Labour’s election slogan of ‘change’, Western said: “We can all see what the last 14 years have done to our communities; people know they are worse off, people know they can no longer rely on the services you did years ago and people feel nothing is working.

It is time for the change our country so desperately needs

Matt Western, Labour candidate for Warwick and Leamington

“It is time for the change our country so desperately needs. I have and will continue to be out speaking to residents about the change we deserve.”

Though traditionally a two-horse race between Labour and the Conservatives, with the two parties taking over 85% of the constituency’s vote in 2019, other parties have also been seeking the support of voters in the hopes of disrupting the two-party contest.

The Green Party’s Hema YellaPragada launched her campaign on that very issue, commenting how voters shared “a sense of frustration that neither Labour or Tories are any different on major issues, and how they desire to see real hope and real change.”

Louis Adam, the Liberal Democrat candidate, has stressed his support for the local area through his campaign and pledges. The Coventry University-educated councillor is pledging to prioritise “fairer education” in the local area, as well as implementing “a more sustainable health and social care system”, and “combatting climate change at every level.”

The full list of candidates standing for election in the Coventry South constituency is as follows:

• Chris Baddon – Reform UK
• Mattie Heaven – Conservative Party
• Alastair Mellon – Social Democratic Party
• Joshua Morland – Independent
• Niko Omilana – Independent
• Anne Patterson – Green Party
• Stephen Richmond – Liberal Democrats
• Zarah Sultana – Labour Party
• Mohammad Ali Syed – Workers Party

The full list of candidates standing for election in the Warwick and Leamington constituency is as follows:

• Louis Adam – Liberal Democrats
• Nigel Clarke – Reform UK
• Laurie James Steele – UKIP
• James Uffindell – Conservative Party
• Matt Western – Labour Party
• Hema YellaPragada – Green Party