Twenty constituencies may elect a new solicitor MP at general election

The Law Society has identified more than 20 constituencies which are likely to elect a new solicitor MP at the general election.

The list of solicitor candidates in safe seats or seats where they appear likely to succeed contains lawyers from firms including City firms Field Fisher Waterhouse, Herbert Smith and Travers Smith; north-west firm Halliwells and Birmingham firm Wragge & Co.

Helen Grant, founder of family and legal aid firm Grants in Croyden, is expected to become the Conservative Party’s first black woman MP by replacing retiring MP Ann Widdecombe in Maidstone and The Weald.

Solicitor Dominic Raab, candidate for the safe Conservative seat of Esher and Walton, was chief of staff to shadow justice secretary Dominic Grieve QC until recently, and trained at Linklaters.

Among the most high-profile Labour solicitor candidates is mixed race Chuka Umunna, who has been dubbed ‘Britain’s Barack Obama’. Umunna is an associate at London firm Rochman Landau and previously worked at Herbert Smith.

Other Labour candidates include Field Fisher Waterhouse partner Hamish Sandison who is standing as a Labour candidate in Monmouth, and Kevin Bonavia, an associate at Byrne & Partners in London, who is standing in Rochford and Southend East.
For the Liberal Democrats, Serena Tierney, a consultant at Wragge & Co, is standing in Mid Sussex, while Laura Edge is standing in Finchley and Golders Green.

A Law Society spokeswoman said the Society would be supporting solicitor MPs in parliament and helping them to act as advocates for the profession.