Richard Harrison has been selected to contest Easington in County Durham.
A past national vice chairman of the Conservative Rural Action Group, Richard took on a dairy farm after leaving school and has now grown it into a successful and diverse rural enterprise, including food production, food processing, commercial and residential property. He recently founded a residential care farm, with a care provider, and is working to provide care and vocational training, including animal assisted therapy, to young people. He has a keen interest in Latin American dancing and is a former cha cha cha national champion.
Easington has been held by Labour since its creation and although sitting MP John Cummings is standing down at the next election, his successor as Labour candidate, Grahame Morris, will defend a notional majority of 18,874 over the Liberal Democrats, with the Conservatives closely behind them in third place. As such It is, on paper, the safest Labour seat in the country.