Labour Chooses Deirdre Costigan to Contest Ealing Southall |
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Deputy Council leader will inherit 16,000+ majority from Virendra Sharma
May 31, 2024 Labour has announced that the Deputy Leader of Ealing Council, Deirdre Costigan, is to be its candidate for the General Election in July. The Northolt Mandeville ward councillor is the Cabinet Member for Climate Action and recently oversaw the taking back in-house of parking services in the borough. Originally from Ireland, she is UNISON’s national policy officer working on disability issues and an LGBTQ+ activist. She will inherit a majority of 16,000 from Virendra Sharma who announced his intention to stand down this week. The constituency has been a safe Labour seat since it was formed in 1983 and has only had three MPs since that time with Syd Bidwell and Piara Khabra being the other two. It is understood that a by-election will be called in Northolt Mandeville should Ms Costigan be elected to parliament. She said following the announcement, “I am delighted to be standing for Labour in Ealing Southall. “With Keir Starmer at the helm, Labour is back in the service of working people. We will put an end to 14 years of Tory chaos and decline with a plan for national renewal, built on a bedrock of economic stability. She received support from Ealing Council’s leader on social media who said his friend was “the most formidable deputy leader you could wish for.” The other candidates for Ealing Southall announced so far are Georgie Calle Callé for the Conservatives, Steve Chilcott for Reform and Tariq Mahmood for the Liberal Democrats.
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