TWO university pals of Luton South MP Gavin Shuker have been selected represent the Labour party in Luton at the next local elections in May.
Andy Malcolm and Roxanna Whittaker, both in their 20s, were at Cambridge with Mr Shuker, and have been selected to fight for the two High Town seats on Luton Borough Council when elections take place this May.
The High Town seats are both currently held by Labour councillors, former Luton mayor Lakhbir Singh and Jacqui Burnett. Councillor Singh is understood to be retiring from his role on the council having moved to Bushmead, and Councillor Burnett, soon to marry Lib Dem councillor Martin Pantling, will fight instead to represent the Limbury ward.
Both Mr Malcolm and Mrs Whittaker live in High Town, said a spokesman for the local Labour party, and had had to undergo the same selection process as any other prospective candidate.
They are among a number of young Labour candidates fighting for seats on the council this year.
Taf Sharif, a lawyer in her 20s, will contest the Dallow ward, and is understood to have been friends with Mr Shuker while both were studying at Luton Sixth Form College.
In South ward, Councillor Lynda Ireland is stepping down, and Amy O’Callaghan, in her 20s and currently finishing a politics degree at Hull University will contest the seat.
Mr Shuker said: “It’s no surprise that selections for the Labour candidates this year was so competitive - with the Lib Dem collapse we are witnessing throughout the town, there is a very good chance for all those selected.
“Unlike some other parties, it is local Labour Party members who select their own candidates.
“We are committed to seeing only the highest calibre candidates selected by the Labour Party. That’s why I’m delighted that this year’s crop is of such a high standard, even if that means that some former councillors are standing in less competitive wards.
“I am pleased that a new generation of people are joining the Labour Party and that they want to get involved and become candidates and hopefully councillors.”
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