Stapeley businesswoman Laura Smith has been selected as Labour parliamentary candidate to fight for the Crewe and Nantwich seat in June.
The 32-year-old was selected by the Labour group ahead of the party’s 2015 candidate Adrian Heald.
Mother-of-two Ms Smith has spearheaded the vocal campaign against Government plans for a National Funding Formula, which could see Cheshire East schools worse off.
The former Brine Leas pupil and school teacher runs the tuition business One-to-One Learning UK in Nantwich by day.
But she was so incensed by the NFF proposals that she rallied hundreds of parents to stage two large public protests.
More than 400 attended a rally in Nantwich town square in February.
And a few weeks later, she led around 1,000 people on a march through Sandbach.
Recently, she joined Brine Leas headteacher Andrew Cliffe on a visit to London to lobby MPs over the proposed NFF.
She said: “What Crewe & Nantwich needs is an elected-representative who lives in the constituency and understands the concerns and priorities of ordinary working families.
“As a teacher and a parent, I have seen first-hand how this Government is letting down our children and our community.
“The people that make our community what it is deserve a strong and independent voice.
“I believe I am that voice and I am determined to win for Crewe & Nantwich on June 8.”
Councillor Suzanne Brookfield, local Party Secretary, said: “Crewe & Nantwich Labour Party is excited to have a strong, local candidate that will be Crewe & Nantwich’s voice in Westminster.
“Laura will be delivering a message of change for local people and she has been inspired to take up politics purely because she cares about the people who live in our community.
“She will not be a career politician and will relate to local people and respond to the issues that matter to them.”
Ms Smith, who also studied at South Cheshire College, will stand against Conservative candidate Edward Timpson and UKIP’s Michael Stanley on June 8.
(pic above courtesy of Jonathan White)
Sounds like a nice person but does she know anything about world trade, Gatt, the EU, Wto etc..and how they will destroy her cherished voters lives once we leave the single market.
Nice to see the negative response, as we are a democracy and should actively encourage free speech. In much the same way we should get more local people involved with politics and Government to speak freely on our behalf. Win or lose, it doesn’t matter. What matters is people taking an interest in the issues locally and being able to take them to those we have central Government. Laura has done that and will try on yours and my behalf to be a voice. Sounds pithy and twee I’m sure, but rather not be in the head in the sand brigade right now. Too many people prepared to sit back and let the others do the talking, and pretend they won’t be affected. And that’s my bit of free speech done.
Are those real words you have written? as they don’t actually make sense.
“Nice to see negative responses” Why?
Then “encourage free speech” what?!! As long as the “free speech” is not negative I suppose.
Exactly what are you attempting to convey?
“win or lose it doesn’t matter”?! Really?
As for taking things to central government? We don’t actually have one at the moment to take anything to.
Explain as I am puzzled.
“She will not be a career politician and will relate to local people and respond to the issues that matter to them.”
I somehow thought that the job was indeed such, a career, and to represent local people, or am I missing something?
I had no idea politicians just stand for position as a mere hobby, or a particular cause, who knew?!!
Selected to lose, all these unknown candidates are simply for the attrition Labour will suffer.
To crippled by their own vanity to see it.
Silly amateur politicians.
Good to see that she won and that makes Laura the professional and you the silly amateur.
Nice for a local person to represent her constituents for a change rather than some random bloke from the stockbroker belt whose daddy is the timpson empire owner who’s only creditable achievement each year is to run a marathon nice work if you can get it .ps remind me does he do anything else ?
maybe headteachers should take a cut from then £90k+ salary instead of being a typical socialist and demanding more money from the taxpayer.
A head teacher in a large secondary school will have maybe 300 pupils 100 plus staff, a large building and if he/she is lucky some grounds the Tories haven’t forced them to sell to developers for housing no one needs or wants. He /she is responsible for a budget larger than most medium sized businesses, pupil and staff welfare, strategy, day to day management, dealing with the whims of wichever useless idiot is education secretary this week, dealing with parents, some very misguided. Oh and he/she will hold probably two education related degrees and in some cases a PhD. I’m not a teacher, never have been, but I reckon that’s worth 90k of anyone’s money. The trouble is, the short sighted would rather see schools, hospitals or any other part of the welfare state the Daily (hate) Mail is currently demonising, rather than pay another pound or two per week extra tax to fund them. Mrs Smith will definitely be getting my vote.
I am not an Edward Timpson fan but really! Just because she can persuade 400 heavily involved interested parents to turn out for a rally – thats less than 1% of the parents in the area – does not mean she is a politician who is in a position to spend a good amount of her time in London representing ALL aspects of life in C&N – would like to hear about HS2 and all her other policies – we all agree that the funding formula is flawed but can’t take our eye of the other issues that are really important to the success and interests of the community!
shoild be interesting.would have been nice for an ordinary working class person whose been on benefits with kids, for a change. As trump has shown he can run a business but not a country .
Good luck
Fantastic news – C&N finally gets a candidate that really takes local fears on the chin, instead of hiding behind the Westminster benches- you go girl, best of Dabbers luck to you……