D-Day for Labour's Iddon successor

From the The Bolton News, first published Sunday 26th Aug 2007.

"WE'VE been spoilt for choice," admits Bolton South-east procedures secretary Cllr Ismail Ibrahim.

He is looking ahead to the end of the long process to decide the candidate who will defend the consituency for Labour at the next general election.

With the seat considered to be a Labour safe haven after Dr Iddon secured a majority of more than 11,000 votes two years ago, there was no shortage of interest in the vacancy and 53 people put their names forward for consideration.

Although Cllr Ibrahim claims the constituency's 250 members will effectively be choosing their next MP, it is not necessarily a case of rose-tinted political bias.

A shortlist of six candidates was finalised following nominations from constituency branches. But Cllr Ibrahim said he would have been happy with any of the original 53 applicants.

"The very fact that an experienced man like Tony Blair's chief speech writer, Phil Collins, failed to make the shortlist, shows how strong the candidates have been," he said.

One surprising absentee from Sunday's selection meeting at the Dixon Green Labour Club in Farnworth, will be Dr Iddon himself.

Selection rules mean he cannot attend and vote because he lives within the neighbouring Bolton North-east constituency in Halliwell.

"I would love to be a fly on the wall," he said.

"It is going to be a tough task for our members to choose one person from those six because I think they could all do the job."

Dr Iddon said key issues for his successor would be health deprivation and a lack of skills among young people leaving school at the age of 16.

Around half of Labour Party constituency members have elected to vote by post but the remainer will make their choice in Sunday's secret ballot. Each party member will rank the candidates in order of preference.

The candidate with the least number of first-choice votes after each round of voting is eliminated.

Their votes are then redistributed until there is a winner with a clear majority.

There is a 50:50 split between male and female and white and non-white candidates.

Julie Hilling, aged 52, is vice-chair of the Bolton West constituency party and a senior regional organiser for rail and travel union the Transport Salaried Staffs Association.

Ms Hilling, formerly a youth work manager at Wigan Council, said she strongly believed providing more facilities for young people could help reduce crime.

"I bring a lot of experience," she said. "I have the negotiating and communication skills from my work in the trade union momvement.

"And I have also worked in real, often disadvantaged, communities - so I've got an in-depth knowledge of the issues facing ordinary people."

Ms Hilling, who lives in Atherton, said tackling poverty and bringing in funding to help regeneration would also be priorities, stressing said she would go out and listen to people.

She added that she would also like her own mobile office. "Why should someone have to get two buses to an MP's surgery on a wet Friday night?" she said.

Richard Jackson, a 35-year-old Altrincham vet, who is also a trustee of mental health charity MIND, campaigned for Labour in Little Lever in the run up to May's local election.

He said: "People call Bolton South East a safe' seat. I really hate that word. It smacks of complacency -that you don't have to put the work in.

"In life, and especially in politics, you get talkers' and doers'. I think local party members realise that I am a doer, that I want to get things done and make a difference."

Mr Jackson said the number of people unable to afford a home was "scandalous" and pledged to campaign for more social housing.

He added that he would also focus on tackling anti-social behaviour. There are currently no vets in the House of Commons and Mr Jackson added: "I think people get fed up with lawyers and solicitors, or people that have only worked in politics."

Nargis Khan, aged 35, has been on Hackney Borough Council in London since 2002 and is now the council's executive member for community services.

Cllr Khan, whose family home is in Great Lever, is campaigns manager for the children's charity Big Wide Talk and was on the Government's Commission for Integration and Cohesion.

She said: "Party members know that a vote for me is a vote for a politician and for someone who has been delivering for six years on the kind of issues that matter to Bolton.

"Our pensioners do not live as long as pensioners elsewhere, our young children have one of the highest rates or alcohol abuse, and people cannot afford to buy a house. It's not right.

"We also need an integrated transport system so people can get to jobs and health services and we do not want to spend another four years scratching the surface of these issues.

"We need politicians out on the doorstep talking to people and we need a strong voice in Parliament."

Kevin Meagher, aged 32, is chairman of the Bolton South-east constituency party and was Brian Iddon's 2005 election agent.

Mr Meagher has worked as a press officer for Labour in the North-west and is now head of public affairs at a Government agency responsible for improving skill levels across the economy.

Mr Meagher, who has homes in Sheffield and Little Lever, where he grew up, said: "I am standing because I have the right mix of local knowledge, education and national political experience.

"If selected, I will be an MP who leads from the front and puts Bolton on the map. I will campaign to make Bolton a city."

Mr Meagher said that he would campaign for a town council for Farnworth, seek more Bolton Royal Hospital funding and work to regenerate the Manchester Road area.

He added that he would support police in driving out drug dealers and lobby the Government about the lack of afforable homes.

Yasmin Qureshi, a 44-year-old London barrister, specialises in and advises Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, on human rights issues.

She has 20 years of voluntary legal experience in areas such as homelessness, social security and employment, and helped rebuild the judicial sytem in war-torn Kosovo for the United Nations mission.

Her father lived in Great Lever and Ms Qureshi has been renting a house in Bolton. She said: "I believe I have the most relevant experience, knowledge and track record in dealing with the kind of things an MP is expected to deal with.

"I will aim to do things that will make the life of everybody in Bolton better, ensure the area gets its fair share of resources and put more empasis on regeneration."

Other priorties include building more "decent" homes, tackling crime, campaigning for more police resources to target drug gangs.

She added that she would like more support for parents of older children, claiming many "do not have control" of their off-spring.

Akthar Zaman, aged 40, has been a Bolton councillor since 2002 and is now executive member for regeneration.

As inclusion manager at the North West Regional Development Agency, Cllr Zaman tries to ensure jobs created are accessible to the unemployed.

He said: "There are many achievements Labour can be proud of but there is much more to do, especially in a constituency like Bolton South-east which has some of the most deprived wards in the country.

"As a local councillor, I am aware of issues such as affordable housing and employment, and of the key Government agencies which can make a difference.

"In some cases, you need more resources but you also need a different way of tackling these issues. And we need to look at providing affordable housing in a much more serious way."

Cllr Zaman, who has lived in Bolton for 22 years, added: "I bring a simple message of equality, fairness and a rejection of the politics of hate."

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