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A former Conservative MP has become the first to declare he will attempt to fight for his old constituency in 2029.
Adam Holloway, who served five terms as the member for Gravesham from 2005, said it would “feel like a waste” if he did not try to become the candidate at the next general election.
Former soldier and television journalist Mr Holloway was beaten by Labour’s Dr Lauren Sullivan last July as Sir Keir Starmer swept to a massive landslide victory.
But he feels he still has a lot to offer the people of Gravesham, which pollster Electoral Calculus (EC) predicts will return to the Conservatives by the tiniest margin.
Mr Holloway said: “I will stand, of course, if they’ll have me. Over the years I got to know the patch very well and I know so many people there.
“It would feel like a waste if I didn’t (stand).”
According to EC, Gravesham is the only seat the Tories are predicted to win back from Labour in Kent.
But the margins of victory, as the polls stand, would be a wafer thin 0.3% on 30%, with Labour and Reform UK behind on 29.7% each, making the contest winnable by any of the three.
After the election, Mr Holloway hinted he might be willing to stand for Kent County Council but the elections due for this May look as though they might not go ahead because of the government's devolution plans.
Cambridge graduate Mr Holloway served in the British Army’s Grenadier Guards, during which time he had a spell as a captain in the Gulf War.
He left the military in the early 1990s to become an undercover reporter for ITN, winning plaudits for a hard-hitting World in Action documentary about homelessness.
By living rough for three months, Mr Holloway sought to highlight the growing link between life on the streets and poor mental health.
The latest EC polling shows that, on current trends, Reform UK would win 10 of Kent’s 18 seats and Labour is reduced from 11 to one.
More worrying for the Conservatives, the polling suggests the party would win just six Kent seats with Gravesham being the only gain from Labour.
Surprises could be on the cards at Maidstone and Malling and Faversham and Mid-Kent, whose MPs Helen Grant and Helen Whately only scraped back in by the smallest of margins, and might fall to Reform UK.
Even safe Conservative seats, like the one won by Katie Lam in the newly formed and largely rural Weald of Kent, are showing reduced predicted majorities.
EC aggregates all polling, trends and analysis to come up with its predictions but it does not take into account local factors.
For instance, Ms Lam has been a vocal supporter of farmers in their opposition to Labour’s plans to impose an inheritance tax on the value of their assets which they fear will put them out of business.