Ian Lavery to be Labour candidate for Wansbeck

Posted by The Journal on Feb 27, 10 10:05 AM in News

Labour Party members have chosen the national leader of Britain's pitmen as their candidate to fight a traditionally safe seat in a former North East coal mining stronghold.

Ian Lavery - president of the National Union of Mineworkers - emerged as the winner from a shortlist of four drawn up to choose the General Election candidate for the Wansbeck constituency.

Ian Lavery, Labour Party candidate for Wansbeck, with a commemorative mining wheel at Westerhope

Yesterday his selection to defend the seat held by retiring MP Denis Murphy was described as 'a backward step' by his Liberal Democrat election rival, Simon Reed.

But local Labour officials say it is the perfect choice for a constituency where Mr Murphy had a majority of 10,500 votes over the Lib Dems in 2005. Yesterday Mr Lavery, 47, said: "I would not be surprised at anything Simon Reed comes up with, but Labour now has a candidate for Wansbeck and I am looking forward to fighting a proper campaign with real Labour values.

"As a Wansbeck person all my life I am delighted at the overwhelming support I've received from local party members. The campaign starts now and I'm looking forward to the continued assistance of the local constituency party as we engage with the public in discussion and debate on local and national issues.

"With hard work, grit and determination Wansbeck will remain a solid Labour seat."

Mr Reed, a member of the Lib Dem executive on Northumberland County Council, said: "For months now Labour have had no candidate for the forthcoming general election. Judging by the recent leaflet they put out attacking me, they seem to have no positive policies either.

"This selection proves that Labour in Wansbeck are stuck in a time warp. They still think our area is the property of the NUM."

Mr Lavery, a father of two who lives in Ashington, has spent his entire working life in the coal industry, starting out as an apprentice at Lynemouth Colliery before moving to Ellington Colliery and eventually becoming leader of the NUM in 2002.

He was selected in a postal ballot of about 300 party members in Wansbeck, coming out ahead of rival candidates Neil Foster, Ian Grayson and Paul Brannen. Mr Murphy, who has been Wansbeck MP since 1997, said: "There is no doubt that Ian is the right candidate. He'll take the fight to the Liberal Democrats locally and highlight the deficiencies of the Tories nationally. Ian's background makes him ideally suited to understanding the challenges people face."

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1 Comments

Lee Simpson said:

As a Wansbeck resident, seeing seventies style unionites parachuted into our 'safe' seat makes you question the value of your vote. This individual was voted to represent our region by a group of 300, and all because of our past mining history and his affiliations to this. Im afraid, this industry is long gone and buddying up to the leader of this union makes no sense at all. Regardless of if your politics are blue, yellow, red or other - surely this isnt the answer. Modern problems require modern solutions, and simply voting for this individual wont make our region great again. Im not a Lib Dem, but they will get my vote as the nearest competitor, I urge you to look at this man's background and ask yourself if he represents YOU. Personally, I think not.

April 26, 2010 10:23 PM