Chelsea and Fulham Election Line-up Starts to Take Shape

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Louise Rowntree will stand for Lib Dems against sitting MP Greg Hands  

With Parliament giving its approval to Theresa May's call for a General Election on June 8, the line-up of candidates in the Chelsea and Fulham constituency is beginning to take shape.

Greg Hands, who has been the Conservative MP for Chelsea and Fulham since 2010, has already indicated that he will be standing once again, tweeting @GregHands, "Ready & looking forward to the campaign trail in Chelsea & Fulham for the General Election! Time to get behind @theresa_may & Conservatives!"

After gaining 62.95% of the total vote in the 2015 General Election - a slightly higher total than the previous contest five years before, Mr Hands looks like the odds-on favourtie..

Ironically, he is now campaigning for the opposite result to his referendum campaign in 2016 - and to the wishes of his constituents as expressed in the referendum.

Last year he argued strongly to remain in Europe, taking to the streets and being photographed with members of Stronger In - Chelsea and Fulham or @RemainCF.

In the referendum, his constituents voted very strongly to remain. In Kensington and Chelsea, 68.7% voted to stay in the EU while in Hammersmith and Fulham, the total was 70%.

And after the results were announced he tweeted: " Looks like those many hours spent at the Tube stations by RemainCF & StrongerinhammS have paid off! "

This year however, his position is reversed as he urges people to back the Conservative Party preparing to take the country out of the EU.

The pro-Remain Liberal Democrats meanwhile have announced that their candidate in Chelsea and Fulham will be Louise Rowntree.

Louise is a lawyer-turned-public affairs and communications consultant who grew up in Chelsea and now lives in Fulham. 

She says that one of the reasons joined the Lib Dems was their pro-European, international and modern outlook – which she wants to give the residents of Chelsea and Fulham the chance to vote for.

Louise worked for several years in Brussels – where she ran Hill & Knowlton’s Trade & Competition department, met her husband and started a family. In 2012 she founded her own, niche, consultancy Rowntree & Associates and moved back to London soon after.

Louise was active in the Brussels Lib Dems, where she started the fun ‘Great Debate’ series of high-profile debates chaired by the Financial Times. Back in London, she could be spotted campaigning on the London Mayoral elections, the EU referendum and other issues. 

For her work, Louise has personally advised heads of state, ambassadors, ministers, multinationals, NGOs, high net worth individuals and law firms. 

Louise is married to Raphael, a Belgian lawyer, and has three boys. 

The other main parties have not yet announced who their candidates will be.

In the General Election of 2015, there were five candidates and the constituency turnout was 63.6%, also up on the previous election when it was 60%

The results are shown below.

Name		Party	Votes	% share
	BAILEY Simon	Liberal Democrat	2,091	5.20
	HANDS Greg	Conservative	25,322	62.95
	NOBLE Adrian John	UK Independence Party (UKIP)	2,039	5.07
	RUBIN Guy	Green Party	1,474	3.66
	SANDERSON Alexandra	Labour	9,300	23.12
Constituency turnout:			63.6%

April 19, 2017