Labour selects candidate to take on Peterborough MP Shailesh Vara

Labour has selected its candidate to contest the North West Cambridgeshire seat at the next General Election.

By The Newsroom

Published 25th Oct 2019, 06:34 BST

Peterborough city councillor Ed Murphy has been chosen to take on Conservative incumbent Shailesh Vara, who has been in the role since 2005.

Mr Vara won by 18,008 votes at the 2017 General Election in what is seen as one of the safest seats in the country.

The constituency covers large parts of Peterborough.

Cllr Murphy previously ran for Labour in the neighbouring Peterborough constituency at the 2010 General Election, losing by 4,861 votes to Conservative Stewart Jackson.

Since that time he has been Labour’s group leader on the council for a year and was the party’s candidate to be the elected Police and Crime Commissioner in 2012, coming second.

Cllr Murphy, who represents Ravensthorpe on the council, was selected on Wednesday evening.