Labour chooses market trader to stand against Shailesh Vara

Iain Ramsbottom has been selected to stand in the North West Cambridgeshire constituency for the election on June 8.

Iain, his wife and three children live in the village of Old Hurst.

He has been the chair of the North West Cambs Constituency Labour Party for seven years and is self-employed as a market trader in local towns.

Iain said: “Cambridgeshire is my home. It’s where I live and work and I am proud to be Labour’s candidate for June’s general election.

“This Tory government has overseen the biggest cuts to our public services in a generation. The NHS and social care is in crisis, our schools are struggling

under the weight of the budget cuts and cuts to police budgets are putting our safety at risk.

“They are sacrificing our hard won public services on the altar of their TAX cuts for the wealthy and big business.

“People here in North West Cambs need a local representative that will put them first. I will work tirelessly between now and June to let local people know that this general election will be a choice between a Labour Party that will stand up for the people of North West Cambs or a Conservative Party that only looks after the privileged few.”

Mr Vara won the seat in the 2015 election by 19,795 votes from UKIP’s Peter Reeve.

Labour’s Nick Thulbourn came third with 17.9 per cent of the vote.

The other candidates for the constituency are UKIP’s John Whitby, Bridget Smith for the Liberal Democrats and Gregor Guthrie for the Green Party.

Graeme Watkins, treasurer, and Kevin Minnette, secretary, of North West Cambs Constituency Labour Party, said: “We welcome the appointment of Iain Ramsbottom as Labour’s Candidate for North West Cambs in June’s general election.

“As someone who lives in the constituency, we know that if elected on the 8th of June he will put this area first and will be a committed and local MP – that’s what North West Cambs deserves.

“Over the coming weeks we will be joining Iain in the campaign trail and are looking forward to supporting him as Labour’s candidate.”

For all of the Peterborough Telegraph’s election coverage, visit our website’s politics page.