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General Election 2019: Liberal Democrat Tim Walker will not fight Rosie Duffield for Canterbury seat in General Election

Tim Walker will not contest the Canterbury seat in the General Election.

The candidate for the Liberal Democrats was announced on November 1, despite speculation the party would not field a candidate.

Tim Walker
Tim Walker

However, Mr Walker, a journalist who once worked with Boris Johnson, has now stepped down.

The seat is currently held by Rosie Duffield, who won for Labour in 2017, the first time it had not gone to the Conservatives in 185 years.

Ms Duffield said on Twitter: "Tim has been a gracious respectful candidate throughout this campaign. The choice for voters in Canterbury is now clear; a local candidate who supports a people's vote and defends our public service, or a Brexiteer who supports Johnson's hard right Tory agenda."

Rosie Duffield and Tim Walker were both on Paul on Politics on KMTV on Friday.

On the day Mr Walker's candidacy was announced, he said: “A lot of the main architects of Brexit are fellow journalists and I know them only too well.

"Leaving the EU was always a pipe dream that they hadn't a clue how to implement.

“We are all sick to death of the mess the Tories and Labour have got us into with Brexit. We talk more about Brexit than we do about issues such as homelessness or climate change.

"Any form of Brexit will clog up the government and parliament for years. The best Brexit deal is the membership of the EU we currently have.

“It is much easier for me to look people in the eye and say that we want to bring an end to Brexit - Labour’s position is ambiguous."

Writing in The Guardian, Mr Walker said he feared splitting the Remain vote within the constituency making it easier for Anna Firth to win the seat back for the Tories.

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