Conservatives choose Hammersmith & Chiswick General Election candidate

Image above: Cllr Andrew Dinsmore

Conservatives choose criminal barrister to stand against Andy Slaughter

Hammersmith & Chiswick Conservatives have selected barrister Andrew Dinsmore as their candidate for the next General Election, scheduled for 2024.

Mr Dinsmore, a local councillor and ‘high-profile crime fighter’, was chosen from a three-person shortlist during a meeting held on Saturday 21 October at Chiswick’s George IV pub. He will face the incumbent Labour MP Andy Slaughter, who has been a west London MP for nearly 20 years and served as the Leader of Hammersmith & Fulham Council before that.

Chiswick has been added to Hammersmith to form the new constituency of Hammersmith & Chiswick, one of a number of constituency boundary changes approved by Parliament in the summer. This newly-formed constituency combines three Chiswick wards and the central parts of Hammersmith.

Andrew Dinsmore, who made headlines earlier this year for his role in a petition to the Home Office resulting in the banning of “zombie” knives in the UK, said he was delighted to be selected:

“I look forward to taking my work as a councillor forward in this fantastic area to campaign on transport, housing, health and crime.”

Cllr Dinsmore is also the Deputy Leader of the Conservative Group on Hammersmith and Fulham Council.

READ ALSO: Hammersmith councillor calls for machete ban after having watch stolen

READ ALSO: Getting to know Andy Slaughter – probably our next MP

Chiswick Conservatives join newly formed Hammersmith & Chiswick Conservatives Association

Conservatives in Chiswick have also been reorganised to join the Hammersmith & Chiswick branch of the party rather than the Brentford & Isleworth branch (previously the Chiswick, Brentford & Isleworth Conservatives).

Outgoing Chair Joan D’Olier told members:

‘It has been a privilege to be your chairman for the past two and a quarter years. I inherited a well-run, highly regarded Association, one that we are told is among the top five best run constituency associations in the country. We should all be proud of that.

“I would like to think that our skills, experience and the high regard in which we’re held can be brought to bear and replicated in both new constituencies.”

Mark Loveday, elected as Chair of the newly formed Hammersmith & Chiswick Conservative Association at the meeting on Saturday, said:

“Andrew is someone who not only talks about soaring crime in Labour London, but does something about it. He beat a very good list of applicants for the nomination and will win for us here.”

Cllr Dinsmore visited Charing Cross Hospital on Monday (October 23) alongside Health Secretary Steve Barclay MP and Conservative Party Chairman Greg Hands MP. During their visit, they met with the hospital’s Chief Executive to discuss refurbishment plans.

Cllr Dinsmore has pledged to continue campaigning for the comprehensive refurbishment of the hospital, an initiative that the Government is ‘actively pursuing’.

Earlier this year, the Government clarified that refurbishment and rebuilding works at Charing Cross, Hammersmith and St Mary’s hospitals had all been pushed back and are now not expected to be completed until after 2030, with timelines “fluid”.

In July, a damning report by the National Audit Office found the Government was on track to break a key election promise from Boris Johnson from 2019 – to build 40 new hospitals in England by the end of the decade.

Read more stories on The Chiswick Calendar