The former Lancashire Police and Crime Commissioner, Andrew Snowden, has been chosen by the Conservatives as the party’s candidate for the Fylde constituency at next month’s general election.

Mr. Snowden has been selected to contest the traditionally safe Tory seat after Mark Menzies - the area’s MP since 2010 - announced in April he was standing in the wake of an investigation by the party which found he had shown a “pattern of behaviour” that fell below the standard expected of MPs.

Labour’s Clive Grunshaw was elected as the county’s Police and Crime Commissioner last month, ousting Mr. Snowden after his three years in the post.

The other candidates so far known to be standing for Fylde at the poll on 4th July are: Anne Aitken (Independent), Tom Calver (Labour Party), Mark Jewell (Liberal Democrats), Robert Perks (Workers Party of Britain), Brenden Wilkinson (Green Party) and Brook Wimbury (Reform UK).

Andrew Snowden - who was also a Lancashire county councillor in the Chorley area until 2021 - said of his selection: “If elected, I promise to hit the ground running, rolling my sleeves up to work with everyone on everything from the concerns about the proposed offshore wind farm and associated cabling and substation plans, the need for a railway loop to increase the rail services from St Annes to half hourly, supporting our rural communities, continuing to get investment in infrastructure and into the town centres, and working with the key sectors such as care, tourism, defence, agriculture and engineering to attract more jobs and funding to the area.

“I already have a strong and popular track record of delivering the changes and investments people across Fylde want to see. People can therefore trust that if they vote for me, I will fight for Fylde as I have been doing since 2017 and will work tirelessly for them here and in Westminster.”