A Conservative MP in Somerset faces a fight on his hand if he wants to stand again at the next general election.

Marcus Fysh has served as Conservative MP for the Yeovil constituency since 2015, and has increased his majority at each of the three general elections he has contested.

The executive of the Yeovil Conservative branch – which normally selects the party’s general election candidate – met virtually on March 17 and announced that Fysh’s re-adoption was “not granted”.

In response, Mr Fysh has opted to ballot all Tory party members in his constituency – and he will be the official candidate if he wins.

If he loses the ballot, the constituency party will have to choose a new candidate to replace him – though Mr Fysh will remain Yeovil’s MP until parliament is dissolved ahead of the next general election.

Mr Fysh took to Twitter on Tuesday (March 28) to confirm he would ballot all local party members.

 

He said: “Despite previously being readopted to stand for the Yeovil constituency, there are going to be new boundaries for the new Yeovil constituency and the party has taken the decision that all MPs in this position need to be readopted on the revised boundaries.

“In light of this, I have decided to opt for a ballot of all Conservative members to be their candidate for the new Yeovil constituency at the next general election.

“I feel that it is a good opportunity to involve members and I am looking forward to talking to them about my record of local delivery and my plans for the new constituency.”

The general election boundaries in Somerset will change before the next general election to take account of population growth since the last Boundary Commission for England (BCE) review in 2018.

While the new Yeovil seat will still include Yeovil, Chard, Crewkerne, Ilminster and most of the neighbouring villages, it will not include Ilchester and other villages around the Podimore area, which will become part of the new Glastonbury and Somerton seat.

Following Mr Fysh’s tweets, the Yeovil Conservative Association confirmed on its official Twitter account that Mr Fysh had not been formally re-adopted as the party’s candidate for the next election.

A spokesman tweeted: “The executive council of March 17 was held on Zoom. There were technical issues and re-adoption was not granted.

“Marcus Fysh has decided to exercise his right to engage with local party members in a ballot for re-selection.”

Responding directly to this tweet, Mr Fysh said: “[I am] delighted to be taking the opportunity to speak with members over the coming weeks about my strong local record of delivery, exciting plans for the future of the constituency, and how we will together keep it blue.”

The next general election must take place on or before January 28, 2025, with parliament having to be dissolved on or before December 17, 2024.