The Isle of Wight Labour Party have announced that Julian Critchley will be in the running to become the Island’s next MP when he stands for the party in June’s General Election.
Last night (Sunday) it was confirmed that the married father of 3 from Ryde has been selected as Labour’s Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for the Isle of Wight. He will go up against Vix Lowthion (Green), Nick Belfitt (Lib Dem), Julie Jones-Evans (Independent) and yet-to-be-confirmed candidates from the Conservatives and UKIP.
It has also been confirmed that the students who pushed questions to Andrew Turner on Friday – the answers to which ultimately led to his resignation – are Labour members.
Julian, who is also standing as a candidate in Thursday’s local elections in the Ryde North West ward, has said:
“To be selected as a Parliamentary candidate is an incredible honour, and not one I take lightly. Following in the footsteps of such excellent Labour candidates as Deb Gardiner, Mark Chiverton and Stewart Blackmore is a daunting task, and I hope I will be able to do it justice.
“Although we have announced my candidacy today, Island Labour hasn’t been wasting time over the last few weeks. We led the successful campaign to remove Andrew Turner from the seat, following his homophobic remarks to schoolchildren, and I am so proud of the young Labour members and their friends who demonstrated such courage in challenging unacceptable bigotry. It’s rare for an opposition party to unseat an MP before a vote is cast, but this is no ordinary election, and we’re no ordinary opposition.
“We have more candidates than any other party standing against the Tories in the local elections, and I’m proud that a larger number of those candidates are women than any other party. I wish all our candidates the very best in this Thursday’s election, and I know that our elected councillors will be excellent representatives of their communities.
“We have the most active social media campaign on the island, engaging tens of thousands of people with our agenda, our policies and our principles. Many of those people are younger voters, possibly voting for the first time, and I’m proud of our efforts to encourage them to express their views, and to participate in our democracy.
Article continues below this advertisement “So I don’t see my candidacy as the beginning of my campaign, but rather as another step forward in our campaign. This campaign isn’t about me, but about our party. Labour is far bigger than a single candidate; it is a movement, not a man. My role in this election is to help persuade as many people as possible to look through the distortions of the media at what our movement is offering, to support our movement, and to participate in our movement.
“I believe the Isle of Wight needs the Labour movement. Our island is a beautiful place, and islanders are warm, friendly, creative and industrious people. Every day I feel privileged to have such neighbours and to live in such a place”.
