Army veteran back in politics to stand for Brexit Party in Gainsborough at General Election

An Army veteran and well-known former councillor is to stand for the Brexit Party in Gainsborough at the next General Election.
Pat OConnor, who is to stand for the Brexit Party at the General Election in Gainsborough.Pat OConnor, who is to stand for the Brexit Party at the General Election in Gainsborough.
Pat OConnor, who is to stand for the Brexit Party at the General Election in Gainsborough.

Pat O’Connor, who lives in the town, has been selected to contest the constituency for a second time after switching allegiances from the Liberal Democrats.

He previously represented the Lib Dems at the 2010 General Election when he earned almost 28 per cent of the vote in finishing second to Conservative Sir Edward Leigh.

Mr O’Connor was a councillor for the Gainsborough Trent ward on Lincolnshire County Council for 18 years until 2017, and also served as deputy leader of West Lindsey District Council.

Explaining his decision to back Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party, he said it was crucial that the result of the 2016 referendum to leave the European Union (EU) was respected.

He said: “I stood down from politics three years ago, thinking the democratic decision to leave the EU would be implemented. How wrong I was.

“It is clear to me that the only way to change politics for good is to stand for the Brexit Party to represent everything that I hold dear in our democracy, which has been dragged through the mud.

“I relish the opportunity to again represent the local people who supported me so well while I was a county councillor.”

Mr O’Connor, who has been married for 40 years and has three children, was in the Army for 22 years, seeing active service in the Falklands War and the Bosnian conflict.

After leaving the Army, he spent 13 years with Lincolnshire Police, working latterly as a crime intelligence analyst.