Ahmad Khan defeated the incumbent Labour MP, Mary Creagh, to become the first Conservative MP for the constituency in 89 years. Wakefield voted almost 2-to-1 in favour of leaving the European Union in the 2016 referendum and was a target seat for the Conservatives. He was selected after the withdrawal of a candidate whose racist and sexist social media posts were uncovered. Labour's Creagh said: "Will the next candidate they parachute in be any better? Don’t hold your breath." Ahmad Khan responded by taking part in a skydive over the town and retorted he was "a local lad born and bred in Wakefield, of Wakefield stock. I couldn't figuratively parachute in—and I didn't want to disappoint her—so I decided I would literally parachute in."