Candidate Selection: Many, Many More of the Same Kinds of Candidates

Voters were presented with a very wide array of candidates from which to make their choice in 2024. No fewer than 686 candidates appeared on ballot papers, a remarkable increase of 155 candidates on the previous election. This chapter explores the candidate strategies adopted by the main parties and it also outlines the rules and procedures that govern the selection of candidates. There is an element of internal party democracy in how all parties make decisions. Constituency level selection conventions are convened but the decisions taken by members are heavily constrained by party elites, who decide on the number of candidates to be selected and any additional criteria to be applied such as gender and geography. Party elites retain powers to add further candidates and to de-select any candidates they deem unsuitable. Collectively, the addition and de-selection powers are essential for parties to manage the legal and competitive demands of the system but, ultimately, they also bypass members and marginalise their overall contribution to candidate selection. Finally, the chapter presents a profile of the candidates that contested the election documenting the occupational background and political experience of candidates.