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A parachute candidate, or carpetbagger in the United States, is a pejorative term [1] for an election candidate who does not live in the area they are running to represent and has little connection to it. The allegation is thus that a desperate political party lacking reliable talent local to the district or region is "parachuting" the candidate in for the job, or that the party (or the candidate themselves) wishes to give a candidate an easier election than would happen in their home area. The term also carries the implication that the candidacy has been imposed without regard to the existing local hierarchy. [2]
Due to its factions (Labor Left, Labor Right, and Independent Labor), Labor often has arrangements in place for preselections, which would often result in parachuting candidates.[ citation needed ]
In 2017 Deborah Russell won selection for the safe Labour seat of New Lynn, in south-east Auckland, despite being from Whangamōmona, a small town in the Manawatū-Whanganui region. She beat out Greg Presland, a New Lynn resident for 30 years who had the backing of the local members. However, Labour's Council backed Russell because of her finance expertise and a pledge to have more women in electorates. Upon winning selection, Russell moved to the electorate. [47] [48] She was elected in the national election.
Han Kuo-yu was a successful parachute candidate for Mayor of Kaohsiung at 2018 Taiwanese local elections. [49] [50] He has served previously on the Taipei County Council [51] and as a member of Legislative Yuan elected by Taipei County. [52]
Parachute candidates are common in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Westminster system historically emphasizes party discipline over responsiveness to constituencies. For example, Margaret Thatcher, who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom for over eleven years, represented Finchley despite living in Chelsea, London. [53]
A 2013 YouGov survey found that support for a hypothetical candidate rose by 12 points after voters learned that his opponent had moved to the area two years earlier, and by 30 points if the opponent lived 120 miles away. The percentage of local MPs rose, according to Michael Rush of the University of Exeter, from 25% in 1979 to 45% in 1997; Ralph Scott of Demos calculates that as of 2014 [update] 63% are local. [53]
According to surveys, public trust in all MPs has decreased but trust in the local MP has increased, making pre-existing connections to seats more important. Election advertisements emphasize local connections more than they mention the candidate's party or its leader. Such a change produces MPs who are more attentive to local issues, but may be detrimental to Britain's first-past-the-post voting system designed to create broad parties that party whips stabilize. [53]
A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, and a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections.
Sheffield Hallam is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Olivia Blake of the Labour Party.
Bethnal Green and Bow is a constituency in Greater London, represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Rushanara Ali of the Labour Party.
The Division of Corangamite is an Australian electoral division in the state of Victoria. The division was proclaimed in 1900, and was one of the original 65 divisions to be contested at the first federal election. It is named for Lake Corangamite, although the lake no longer falls within the division's boundaries.
A safe seat is an electoral district (constituency) in a legislative body which is regarded as fully secure, for either a certain political party, or the incumbent representative personally or a combination of both. With such seats, there is very little chance of a seat changing hands because of the political leanings of the electorate in the constituency concerned or the popularity of the incumbent member. The opposite type of seat is a marginal seat. The phrase "tantamount to election" is often used to describe winning the dominant party's nomination for a safe seat.
The Division of Fowler is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales.
The Division of Gilmore is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales.
East Worthing and Shoreham is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1997 by Tim Loughton of the Conservative Party.
Bury South is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. At the 2019 General Election it was the 10th most marginal seat in the country, with a majority of 402 for the Conservative Party candidate Christian Wakeford. Wakeford defected to the Labour Party on 19 January 2022.
Gedling is a constituency in Nottinghamshire created in 1983 represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Tom Randall of the Conservative Party. The seat was a safely Conservative until the Labour Party's landslide victory in 1997, when it was won for Labour by Vernon Coaker. Labour held Gedling until 2019, when it was regained by the Conservative Party.
Greenwich and Woolwich is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Matthew Pennycook of the Labour Party.
Witney is a county constituency in Oxfordshire represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom since 2016 by Robert Courts of the Conservative Party. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first-past-the-post system of election, and was created for the 1983 general election.
Esher and Walton is a constituency in Surrey represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. Since 2010, it has been represented by Dominic Raab of the Conservative Party, who served as deputy prime minister before resigning from that role in April 2023 due to bullying allegations. In May he announced he would be standing down as an MP at the next general election.
Thirsk and Malton is a constituency in North Yorkshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Kevin Hollinrake, a Conservative.
Nyunggai Warren Stephen Mundine is an Australian businessman, political strategist, advocate for Indigenous affairs, and former politician. Starting his political career in 1995, Mundine became the first Indigenous person to serve on the City Council of Dubbo in New South Wales. He was the national president of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 2006 to 2007 but quit the party in 2012. In 2013, Mundine was appointed chairman of the Coalition government's Indigenous Advisory Council by then-prime minister, Tony Abbott. Mundine was the Liberal Party's unsuccessful candidate for the marginal seat of Gilmore on the south coast of New South Wales in the 2019 Australian federal election.
The 1981 Crosby by-election was a by-election held in England on 26 November 1981 to elect a new Member of Parliament (MP) for the House of Commons constituency of Crosby on Merseyside. It followed the death of Crosby's MP Sir Graham Page, of the Conservative Party.
Anna Watson is an Australian politician and a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing the electoral district of Shellharbour.
This article provides information on candidates for the 2013 Australian federal election held on 7 September 2013. There were 1,717 candidates in total.
Trisha Lee Doyle is an Australian politician who was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly as the member for Blue Mountains for the Labor Party at the 2015 New South Wales state election.
A by-election was held in the UK parliamentary constituency of Batley and Spen on 1 July 2021, following the resignation of the previous Member of Parliament (MP) Tracy Brabin, who was elected Mayor of West Yorkshire on 10 May. Under the devolution agreement, the position holds the powers and responsibilities of a police and crime commissioner, meaning the occupant of the office cannot simultaneously sit as an MP. The by-election was the fourth of the 58th Parliament, elected in 2019.
She referred to Labour's Susan O'Keeffe having been "a parachute candidate" in the last general election.
I think he's a carpetbagger who came down from Scotland to whip up racial tensions in Tower Hamlets.