It's hard to be further from the truth than that statement. Richmond is an ancient (and beautiful) market town at the gateway to the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Its population is predominately white British, with a high proportion of retirees. Richmond (and North Yorkshire generally) is rural Conservative heartland. It's been a safe Conservative seat for over a century.
I forgot that the UK doesn’t require that MPs don’t have to live in the districts they represent. So he ran in a safe district that will vote in a Conservative no matter what he or she looks like. Why do I find myself thinking of Blackadder?