Nicola Davies selected by Hodge Hill Liberal Democrats to fight the by-election

10.15.00am BST (GMT +0100) Thu 24th Jun 2004

Nicola Davies: "We can go to the next stage and win this by-election".

Last night Hodge Hill Liberal Democrats selected Nicola Davies to be their candidate for the impending by-election. Nicola stood in the 2001 General Election in Birmingham and in this year's European Elections on the West Midlands list. The by-election has been caused by sitting MP Terry Davies deciding to stand down and take a job in Europe.

Nicola Davies is a proven experienced campaigner. She stood in the high-profile seat of Birmingham Edgbaston in the 2001 General Election against a, then, Labour Minister and successfully increased the Liberal Democrat vote by the largest percentage of any party. Nicola has also appeared for the Liberal Democrats on Midlands at Westminster and on the Today Programme on Radio 4.

Nicola currently works in the telecommunications sector and specialises in Community and Council Relations. She is no stranger to working in politics either having worked as a Parliamentary Researcher to two front-bench Liberal Democrat MPs. Previously she has worked as a teacher and in Local Government bringing a number of relevant experiences to her new role as Candidate for Hodge Hill.

Nicola, after being selected, said "I am obviously delighted to have been selected and relish the challenge the by-election presents. The Liberal Democrats in Birmingham have been a growing force over the last few years - mainly at the expense of Labour, it is time to turn that local success in to Parliamentary success I believe I can take us to that next stage and win this by-election."