Ramsgate branch held a selection meeting this week to choose candidates for the forthcoming Kent County Council elections.  There are two seats for Ramsgate, both currently held by UKIP.

As is usual, all branch members were invited and it was a very packed room at the Newington Road Labour Office.  It’s great to see so many people turning up for these selections as it’s important that as many members as possible choose candidates.  We were lucky to have three excellent candidates standing on the evening – Karen Constantine, Alan Poole, Raushan Rahman.  All had already been through the Kent-wide selection process and been approved and all had been through the branch shortlisting process also.  Two other candidates had chosen to withdraw from the process due to personal reasons.

All candidates had provided all members, in advance, with a resume of their skills, experience and reasons for wanting to stand in advance and then spoke to the meeting.Each were quizzed by members on a wide range of topics.

Being such able candidates, it was a close run match but it was Karen Constantine and Raushan Rahman who were selected and we all offer our congratulations to them.  With excellent candidates, Ramsgate can mount a strong campaign to win these seats for Labour.  With the Conservatives eating away at the very fabric of our society and budgets and services being slashed, it is vital to have Labour councillors at this level speaking for Ramsgate and Ramsgate residents.

Thank you to all candidates who put themselves forward and to all members who participated in the process.