Women only for Labour at election
ONLY women will be considered in the race to become Labour's candidate for the Hucknall Parliamentary seat at the next General Election.
The controversial decision has been taken by Labour's National Executive Committee (NEC).
The party are on the lookout for a prospective Parliamentary candidate after an announcement by veteran MP Paddy Tipping that he will not stand for the Sherwood constituency, which includes Hucknall, Newstead and Bestwood Village.
He has held the seat for 17 years. But he suffered a heart attack in June in the aftermath of being caught up in the expenses row.
The Sherwood Constituency Labour Party (CLP) were understooof to favour an open nomination process for their candidate.
But a decision to go with an all-female list has been taken by national party officials. The reason is that all of Nottinghamshire's current Labour MPs are men.
It means the likes of Chris Baron, who represented Hucknall on Notts County Council and Ashfield District Council, will not be able to apply. Also touted as a possible successor to Mr Tipping was Coun John Knight (Lab), who is currently leader of Ashfield District Council and a former Hucknall councillor.
A clearly disappointed Mr Baron said: "It is understandable that all political parties want a balance of genders when being represented in the House Of Commons.
"What we now have to ensure is that the successful female candidate has the ability to make sure Sherwood, and in particular Hucknall, goes from strength to strength."
Women interested in becoming Labour's candidate can now apply to the Sherwood CLP.
Each of the eight branches of the party that make up the constituency will then be able to make nominations, as will the unions.
A shortlisting meeting will then be held on Wednesday December 9 and the final decision on who will stand will be made on Sunday December 20.
Names already in the frame include Nottingham City Council's lead member for transport, Coun Jane Urquhart, Newark and Sherwood district councillor Abbie Truswell, Notts county councillor Stella Smedley, Emilie Oldknow, who is regional director of the East Midlands Labour Party and former London councillor Christine Shawcroft, of Nottingham.
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Weather for Hucknall
Wednesday 23 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 12 C to 26 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 11 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: North east
