Selby and Ainsty is a rural constituency in
North Yorkshire, covering the former
District of Selby (defunct since 2023). The only towns are the namesake market town of
Selby and the smaller towns of
Tadcaster and
Sherburn in Elmet. The rural areas of the seat include parts of the ancient
wapentake of the
Ainsty of York and villages such as
Camblesforth and
Eggborough. Since
boundary changes in advance of the
2010 election, Selby and Ainsty had been considered a "traditional Tory safe seat". Incumbent MP
Nigel Adams had been a close ally of former
Prime Minister Boris Johnson. He had served as the constituency's MP since its creation in 2010 and had most recently defended it in
2019 with a majority of just over 20,000 votes relative to his nearest competitor. He resigned as an MP one day after Johnson did, an action which itself triggered
a by-election in Uxbridge and South Ruislip; Adams had previously rejected the idea he would stand down as an MP early. He had been expected to receive a
peerage as part of Boris Johnson's
resignation honours, but had been removed from the final list by the
House of Lords Appointments Commission (HOLAC).
The Sunday Times reported that, on 2 June 2023, Johnson met the incumbent Conservative Prime Minister,
Rishi Sunak, and agreed to campaign for him if Sunak approved his honours list. A source close to Sunak denied any deal was agreed, but that Sunak said he would not interfere in the process. The list of proposed peerages went to the commission, which rejected several names, presumed to include Dorries and Adams, as they were serving MPs who were not planning to stand down imminently. This led to a row about whether arrangements could be made for Adams and the others. Johnson wanted Sunak to overrule the HOLAC or promise to give Adams, Dorries and
Alok Sharma peerages later, but Sunak refused. Adams had previously announced his intention to stand down as an
MP at the
2024 general election, with the party having selected a candidate to succeed him the previous day. ==Candidate selection==