Reform UK has chosen a former Metropolitan Police detective to contest the Holborn and St Pancras by-election on 8 October.

The party says Pete Newman served at the Met between 2004 and 2009, working on crime reduction and counter-terrorism across London.

It says he helped lead the force’s response in Westminster after the 7 July 2005 bombings.

Newman has since worked as a security and investigative consultant.

He joins the Conservatives’ Ewan Cameron, Labour’s Sagal Abdi-Wali, Lib Dems’ Patrick Stillman and Green Party leader Zack Polanski on the ballot.

“As a former police detective, it depresses me to see the state of crime and policing in our capital,” Newman said. “Residents no longer feel safe, and our police officers are struggling to cope.”

Nominations close at 16:00 BST on Tuesday.

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