Antony Calvert was today selected in a an open primary to contest the newly created Morley and Outwood constituency in West Yorkshire at the next general election. He already has a website up and running.
The seat takes in a large chunk of the existing Morley & Rothwell constituency and part of the existing Normanton seat, which has been represented by Ed Balls since 2005. Colin Challen, the Labour MP for Morley & Rothwell, is stepping down at the general election to allow Mr Balls to stand in the redrawn seat. He will defend a notional Labour majority of 8,669 over the Conservatives (according to the Rallings and Thrasher figures), meaning that Antony requires, on paper, a swing of 10.5% to gain the seat for the Conservatives.
The potential for a Tory victory here has already attracted comment in the local press and at the most recent council elections, the Conservatives did win more votes than Labour. The tally of councillors across the constituency is 5 Morley Borough Independents, 5 Labour, 4 Conservative and 1 BNP.
Between 2004 and 2007, Antony was councillor for the Wrenthorpe and Outwood West ward on Wakefield council, which is one of five wards which falls within the constituency boundaries. For the last year and a half he has been the Media Relations and Account Manager for the community consultation company, Green Issues Communications.