Labour’s Colne Valley shortlist revealed

May 8 2009 By Barry Gibson

THREE women have been shortlisted to fight a vital Parliamentary seat for Labour, the Examiner can exclusively reveal.

Party activists in Colne Valley will choose between Halifax councillor Megan Swift, Rochdale woman Debbie Abrahams and Joyce Still from Aldershot, at a meeting next week.

The three have been chosen by Labour Party bosses as potential replacements for Kali Mountford MP, who is standing down at the next election.

The Colne Valley constituency – which includes the Holme Valley and Lindley – is one of the most marginal in the country, with Labour beating the Conservatives by just 1,501 votes at the last general election in 2005.

Ms Mountford won the seat for Labour in 1997, successfully defending it at the next two general elections. But she announced in January that she would not stand again for health reasons.

Labour decided in March that the party’s next candidate for Colne Valley would be chosen from an all-women shortlist.