Home Secretary Suella Braverman wins 'Battle of Waterlooville' and beats Meon Valley MP Flick Drummond to stand for Tories in new Fareham and Waterlooville seat

The current Fareham MP was up against current Meon Valley MP Flick Drummond at a vote of party members tonight – dubbed the Battle of Waterlooville – as they decided who would stand in the new seat, which is set to be created because of a review of constituency boundaries. Mrs Braverman won by 77 votes to 54.

Under this shake-up, the Meon Valley seat will disappear, Fareham and Waterlooville will be created and the Winchester seat will be extended south.

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Mrs Braverman, who was elected MP for Fareham in 2015 and is an avowed Brexiteer on the right of the party, was against pro-European centrist Mrs Drummond, who has represented the Meon Valley since 2019. They faced a vote of eligible local members at the Marriott Hotel in Portsmouth tonight. The public was not admitted. In all there were about 250 people eligible to vote – party members in the current Fareham and Meon Valley constituencies.

Mrs Drummond also represented Portsmouth South between 2015 and 2017.

After winning the selection battle against Mrs Drummond, Mrs Braverman tweeted: ‘I am honoured and humbled to have been adopted by @Conservatives members to be their Parliamentary Candidate for the new Fareham and Waterlooville constituency.

‘I thank my Parliamentary colleague Flick Drummond MP for her excellent work for the people of Meon Valley.’

Mrs Drummond said: ‘I am incredibly disappointed but will continue to be Meon Valley MP and serve my constituents until the next election.’

Tory party chairman Greg Hands posted: ‘Congratulations @SuellaBraverman for being selected for Fareham & Waterlooville!

‘Boundary changes are important, but some complicated selections are inevitable.

‘Flick is a brilliant MP – we are all part of one @Conservatives family & she has the Party’s support for the future.’

The Home Secretary’s rhetoric on issues such as migration has made headlines and drawn criticism, while Mrs Drummond is a low-profile backbench MP.

Constituency changes have been proposed across the UK as part of the 2023 boundary review.

The review started in January 2021, and its final recommendations are due to be presented by July 1, with changes expected before the next election.

The Boundary Commission for England has closed its ‘final consultation’ and is considering the feedback received.