General Election 2019: Conservative candidate David Brescia believes he can topple Labour’s Dawn Butler in Brent Central
Conservative Party candidate David Brescia believes he can win Brent Central in the upcoming General Election - Credit: Archant
The Conservative candidate for Brent Central believes he can topple Labour’s Dawn Butler in the upcoming General Election despite her huge 27,000 majority two years ago.
David Brescia believes Brexit supporters and local traders who "don't want a hard left" will close the gap and vote him in as MP on December 12.
Earlier this month Ms Butler, a close ally of her leader Jeremy Corbyn, announced that she will run to succeed Tom Watson as deputy leader of the Labour Party.
Standing for the first time Mr Brescia believes he can not only steal her votes, but can also take votes from the Liberal Democrat's Deborah Unger and the Green Party's William Relton.
He said: "The Conservatives came a strong second in Brent Central in the previous General Election, with four times as many votes as the Lib Dems.
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"Speaking to voters on the doorstep, I've met a lot of former Labour voters who say they are planning to vote Conservative for the first time - either due to Labour antisemitism, or out of general disapproval of how far Corbyn and Momentum have taken Labour to the extreme left - as well as people who normally vote Green but acknowledge the Conservatives' strong track record on environmental policy and my own personal passion for this subject".
With no competition from the Brexit Party, unlike in Brent North, he believes he can also take votes from both Leavers and Remainers.
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The Liberal Democrats have promised to revoke Article 50 if they get in to power, whereas the Labour Party's position is to offer a second referendum.
He added: "On top of the fact that 43pc of Brent Central residents voted for Brexit, I've spoken to former Liberal Democrat voters who voted Remain but consider the Lib Dems' current position of refusing to accept the referendum result as 'undemocratic'.
"Most business owners I speak to say they can adapt to any "deal" once they have certainty on what it will be. But what they don't want is another few years of uncertainty and what they say concerns them far more than Brexit would be a hard-left Corbyn government."
Dawn Butler has been contacted.
