Member of Parliament for Beckenham Bob Stewart has been named as the Conservatives Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for the new Beckenham & Penge constituency ahead of the next General Election expected in 2024.
Bob has been a Member of Parliament since being elected to represent Beckenham at the 2010 General Election. Prior to his election to parliament Bob served in the Army, reaching the rank of Colonel, which saw him serve active duty in Bosnia and Northern Ireland. Bob left the Army in the early 1990’s and subsequently ran his own consultancy business. Bob has also published a book about his time in the Army.
Since first becoming a Member of Parliament in 2010 Bob has campaigned on a number of local issues such as getting the Beckenham Junction to London Blackfriars service restored to scrap car parking fees at hospitals and health centres such as the Beckenham Beacon, and more recently for a new police vehicle for the Safer Neighbourhood Teams in Hayes and West Wickham. Bob is also a very strong and vocal critic of the Mayor of London’s plans to extend the so-called Ultra-Low Emission Zone to cover all of London, which Bob says is unnecessary and that the £200 million cost of the extension could be better used on investing in greener infrastructure and improving public transport in areas like Beckenham and Penge.
The existing Beckenham constituency has two main towns; Beckenham and West Wickham, and includes Shortlands, Hayes, Bromley Common and the Village of Keston. However, under the most recent proposals from the Boundary Commission the seat is set to be replaced by a new ‘Beckenham & Penge’ constituency which will reunite all of Beckenham in one constituency by moving Cock House Ward back into the seat as well as seeing Penge & Cator and Crystal Palace & Anerley Wards added. Hayes, Bromley Common and Keston will move to a new Bromley & Biggin Hill constituency.
Speaking after his selection, Bob said:
“It has been the privileged of my life to represent Beckenham these last thirteen years and I am hugely grateful to local people for electing me on four occasions – each time with over 50% of the votes cast. I am truly honoured to have been adopted as the Conservatives Prospective Candidate for the new Beckenham and Penge constituency and am excited for the campaign ahead. I’ll be running a positive campaign on my record in the area and the Conservatives’ strong track record in Government.
It is a great pleasure to work with the hard-working and dedicated Conservative Councillors across the constituency, such as our recent battle to get Southeastern to restore the Cannon Street train services on the Hayes line. Together with Bromley’s London Assembly Member, Peter Fortune, we are working to try stop the Mayor of London’s drivers’ tax which will hammer local businesses and charities, raid the pockets of the poorest and most vulnerable in our community and make it harder for ordinary to go about their daily lives.
I’ve long felt that ending the constituency at Beckenham War Memorial was ridiculous and am pleased to see all of Beckenham will again be joined in one constituency along with Penge and Crystal Palace. I look forward to getting out into the community there and making my case for why I should be elected as their new MP”.
