Member of Parliament for North Warwickshire and Bedworth Craig Tracey has been unanimously re-selected to be the general election candidate by the local Conservative Party.
Local Conservative Party Chairman David Wright commented:
“We were never in doubt who the best person for the job to be our candidate was, after an exemplary two years as our MP, Craig has our full backing to continue being our hardworking representative for our community. Craig has kept to the pledges he made at the last election and local people appreciate that, he is a local man whose priorities reflect that of residents.
“We cannot take this election for granted, we will be giving Craig our full support and will take our message for the need of strong leadership both locally and nationally to local doorsteps.”
Craig Tracey was born in Durham and attended the city’s Framwellgate Moor Comprehensive School. His family come from a mining background in the North East.
Craig started his own small business which he ran locally for 20 years before being elected as Member of Parliament for his home constituency of North Warwickshire and Bedworth.
He lives in Shuttington, near Polesworth, and moved to North Warwickshire in 1997 where he met his wife Karen.
In the build up to the 2015 General Election the Financial Times described him as "the sort of candidate who hardly happens these days... totally apolitical until seven years ago when he became increasingly incensed by the effect on his business of EU regulations and Labour indifference".
Local businessman Craig polled 20,042 votes in the 2015 General Election, a total of 42.3% of the vote. Despite North Warwickshire being Labour’s number one target seat, Craig significantly increased outgoing MP Dan Byles’ majority from just 54 votes to 2973 in one of the major results of the night.
Craig Tracey who supported leaving the EU during the referendum commented:
“Obviously I am delighted to have been re-selected by local residents, it is a tremendous honour to have been able to represent my home community in Parliament for the last two years.
“This election comes at a crucial time for the UK with positive negotiations with the EU needed. Locally, I am asking for the opportunity to continue my work for residents fighting against HS2, promoting local jobs and apprentices, protecting our green belt and making our roads safer.”
In Parliament Craig has worked with charities Breast Cancer Now and Care After Combat.
Craig Chairs the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Women & Enterprise, Chairs the APPG on Insurance and Financial Services and Co-Chairs the APPG for Breast Cancer.
He was also a member of the influential Business Energy and Industrial Strategy Select Committee, drawing on his experience of running a small business and the insurance industry.
The General Election takes place on Thursday 8th June.