Dr Paul Williams announced as Labor candidate in Hartlepool by-election after Mike Hill resigns | Politics News
Labor has announced its candidate for the Hartlepool by-election.
Dr Paul Williams will try to keep the Workforce seat in the next competition.
Dr Williams was Member of Parliament for Stockton South from 2017 to 2019, losing his seat from Boris Johnson won the general election by a landslide.
The contest for the by-elections was triggered by the resignation of Mike Hill, who resigned amid allegations of sexual harassment.
In September 2019, Mr Hill was suspended by the Labor Party after allegations he sexually harassed a woman.
But, a month later, the 57-year-old revealed he had been reinstated in the party and said he “completely rejected” the allegations.
A final labor court hearing concerning Mr. Hill is scheduled for May 10.
Mr Hill retained the Hartlepool seat two years ago with a majority of over 3,500 votes, meaning the constituency was one of the few ‘Red Wall’ strongholds that Labor succeeded in squeezing out of. to hang up.
Dr Williams, a supporter of a second referendum on the EU before losing his seat, will run in a constituency in which nearly 70% of voters supported Brexit.
Labor has said it has “worked on the front lines” during the COVID-19 pandemic, seeing patients at One Life centers in Hartlepool and working at Hartlepool Hospital emergency care center.
Dr Williams said it was an “honor” to be selected as a candidate for the “shining city”.
“The Conservatives have let Hartlepool down,” he said.
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“In the last decade in power they have kidnapped Hartlepool, taken the police off the streets and taken over the services of our local hospital.
“The Teesside Tories are focusing on Stockton and Middlesbrough and Hartlepool is scooping the crumbs off the table, if we get anything.
“We don’t want people to have to go out of town to find good jobs or to go to the hospital or to the shops.
“We want jobs and services here in Hartlepool for the local people. That is what I will fight for as a member of Parliament for Hartlepool.”
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Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer said: “Paul has already ensured the safety of locals as a doctor during the COVID crisis – he will be a powerful voice for the city as the next MP.
“I can’t wait to campaign with him.”
A spokesperson for the Labor Party in Hartlepool constituency described Dr Williams as the “exceptional choice”, but some reports suggested he was the only candidate proposed.
Amanda Milling, co-chair of the Conservative Party, said Labor had selected a “failed former MP who has already been rejected by the people of the North East”.
“In the 2016 EU referendum, Hartlepool voted 69.6% to leave. Paul Williams wanted to stay in the EU and worked to thwart Brexit,” she added.
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“He lost his seat in 2019 because he did not respect the opinions of the people he represented.
“Only the Tories got Brexit right and will respect the priorities of the people of Hartlepool.”
The by-election will be an electoral test of the Prime Minister’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic and his “leveling” program for parts of northern England.
But it will also provide a first assessment of Sir Keir’s hopes of recovering from his party’s poor performance in the last election.