Editing Parachute candidate (section)

===Conservative Party===
* Prior to the [[2024 United Kingdom general election|2024 general election]], [[Richard Holden (British politician)|Richard Holden]], who was serving as the [[Chairman of the Conservative Party]], represented the marginal seat of [[North West Durham (UK Parliament constituency)|North West Durham]], which he won in the [[2019 United Kingdom general election|2019 general election]] with a slender 2.4% majority. His seat was abolished by the [[2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies]] and he was later selected for the safe Conservative seat of [[Basildon and Billericay (UK Parliament constituency)|Basildon and Billericay]] after the Conservative Party imposed him as the candidate against local opposition; Holden was the only contender allowed to stand on the shortlist.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-06-05 |title=Richard Holden: Growing backlash after Tory chair lands safe seat |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckkkq4kx3l0o |access-date=2024-06-05 |website=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref> This led to accusations of carpetbagging, especially after it emerged that, in January 2024, he described himself as "bloody loyal to the north-east", and denied he would seek a safer seat.<ref>{{cite news |last= |first= |date=7 June 2024 |title='D-day was the final straw': Sunak's blunders ignite Tory party fury |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/jun/07/d-day-was-the-final-straw-sunaks-blunders-ignite-tory-party-fury |accessdate=7 June 2024 |work=The Guardian}}</ref> Ironically, Holden went on to win by a mere twenty votes.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/election/2024/uk/constituencies/E14001077|title=Basildon and Billericay results: General election 2024|work=[[BBC]]}}</ref>
* [[Boris Johnson]]'s selection for the ultra-safe Conservative seat of [[Henley (UK Parliament constituency)|Henley]] in 2001, after [[Conservative Campaign Headquarters|the party's central office]] parachuted him in,<ref name="JCM">J Cheng-Morris (6 December 2019) [https://uk.style.yahoo.com/boris-johnson-henley-general-election-2001-124903709.html "Arrogant in the extreme: The story of Boris Johnson's general election victory in 2001"]. [[Yahoo! News]]: Retrieved 30 September 2023</ref> was described by senior local Tory Mike McInnes as "a disaster for the integrity of modern politics" and "arrogant in the extreme", Johnson having "blustered in with no knowledge about the constituency". McInnes commented that he could not see him supporting a hypothetical local old lady who was having problems with her housing benefit and asked, "Are people going to feel comfortable going to him?" Likewise, Johnson's main rival, Liberal Democrat candidate [[Catherine Bearder]] said: "In Henley, you can put a blue rosette on a donkey and it will get elected. And that's what happened in 2001... He clearly just wanted to be an MP. [[2008 London mayoral election|As soon as London came up]], he was off out."<ref name="JCM" />