Brighton Pavilion (UK Parliament constituency) Clarence Mitchell, a former BBC News reporter and spokesman for the family of Madeleine McCann, was selected as the Conservative Party candidate. On 26 April 2017, it was announced that the local Liberal Democrat party had chosen to not field a candidate in the seat during the upcoming snap election, endorsing Caroline Lucas instead due to their shared pro-EU stance. This occurred on the same night as the local Green Party stood aside in Brighton Kemptown in order to ensure the seat was not won by the Conservatives due to a split vote between progressive parties. Caroline Lucas retained Brighton
UK Independence Party representation and election results Commons. The party first had representation for a period in 2008 when Dr Bob Spink, the MP for Castle Point, resigned from the Conservative Party and joined UKIP on 21 April 2008. However, by November 2008, Spink had left UKIP, and in any case subsequently lost his seat to the Conservatives in the 2010 General Election. Douglas Carswell, the MP for Clacton, and Mark Reckless, the MP for Rochester and Strood, resigned from the Conservative Party to join UKIP on 28 August and 27 September 2014, respectively, and resigned their seats shortly thereafter. Carswell and Reckless won subsequent by-elections held