Oldham East and Saddleworth chooses first ever female candidate

5.42.42pm UTC (GMT +0000) Wed 25th Oct 2006

Liberal Democrats have opted for a dramatic change in direction by picking their first ever woman candidate to contest the Oldham East & Saddleworth constituency.

Local Party members, who selected Alison Smith on Saturday, say the decision puts the Liberal Democrats on course to win the seat.

The 31-year old law graduate is an aide to senior MP Malcolm Bruce, the chairman of Parliament's International Development Select Committee.

She currently serves on Aberdeen City Council alongside former Oldham Labour MP James Lamond, but is to step down shortly to move to the area and work with Oldham-based Euro-MP Chris Davies.

Alison Smith won 54% of members' votes, gaining a substantial majority over Stockport councillor Stuart Bodsworth, who had fought the Oldham West seat in the general election last year. She described the result as "life changing".

She said: "Winning this nomination marks the biggest commitment of my life. I shall be starting a new job and making new friends. I have started house hunting and look forward to becoming involved in the local community.

"My task is very clear. It is to take the Liberal Democrats forward, building on our strength at a local level to win the parliamentary seat. I hope we can attract many hundreds more people in Oldham to join the party, and especially give younger people a reason to become involved in politics."

Oldham East and Saddleworth has long been regarded as one of the Liberal Democrats' best prospects in the North West. The party already holds 22 of its 27 council seats while the Conservatives lost their only borough councillor in May.

Constituency chairman Councillor Alan Roughley said that party members had chosen from a shortlist of four outstanding candidates, any one of whom would have made an excellent MP. Alison Smith had been selected on the basis of her personality, commitment and political judgement.

He commented: "I think our members recognised that Alison has great ability. We believe we have a candidate who will win this seat at the next General Election. It is very encouraging for Liberal Democrats that candidates of such high calibre are coming forward."

Oldham Euro-MP Chris Davies, who represented much of the seat in Westminster after the 1995 by-election, said he believed that the party would now once again move forward.

"Alison came over as a breath of fresh air. She's a young woman with great potential who is going to put Oldham East and Saddleworth firmly back on the Liberal Democrat map."