The Conservative candidate in the Hartlepool by-election has spent a decade away from the constituency – including time in tax haven the Cayman Islands.
Jill Mortimer, a land-owning barrister from North Yorkshire, admitted she had not “spent a lot of time” in the town.
Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner said the Conservatives had selected a candidate who has “more connection with tax havens than Hartlepool town centre”.
Local Tory voters complained the party had “thrown everything away on someone outside the area”.
There’s no suggestion of any wrongdoing on the part of Mrs Mortimer or her family.
But a biography written for the old website for her farmhouse bed and breakfast reveals that before moving to Thirsk, some 30 miles from Hartlepool, she spent a decade living in London and overseas, including time in the Caribbean island.
In response, a Conservative Party spokesperson turned fire on Dr Williams for having himself spent time living abroad.
Dr Williams moved to rural Uganda in 2006, where he spent four years working as a volunteer helping to set up a community health programme.
A Conservative Party spokesperson said: “Jill has lived and worked in many different places and it’s no shock to see a family move for wherever their work takes them.
“Indeed, former MP Dr Paul Williams once told a Commons debate: ‘Living for a long time in a different culture gives you a particular insight’ after he lived abroad for several years.
“The varied life experiences Jill has had, based on hard work along with raising a family, means she has all the attributes and qualities needed to be an excellent MP for Hartlepool and deliver on the people’s priorities in a town which has been taken for granted by Labour for 57 years.”
Dr Paul Williams, the Labour candidate, was the MP for nearby Stockton South until 2019.
The only poll of Hartlepool voters published so far put Labour six points behind the Conservatives.
