McMahon makes Labour shortlist

Oldham council Leader Jim McMahon - hoping to step into the shoes of the late Michael Meacher.

OLDHAM Council leader Jim McMahon has made the four-person shortlist to become Labour’s candidate for the Oldham West and Royton by-election.

The by-election will take place on December 3 and arises from the death of veteran Labour MP Michael Meacher last month.

A long-list of seven potential candidates was invited to London yesterday for interviewed by the party’s selection panel.

Joining Councillor McMahon on the shortlist are Mohammed Azam, Chris Williamson and Jane East.

Councillor McMahon afterwards expressed delight at being n the shortist. The party’s Oldham branch will now hold a selection meeting to pick one of the four as Labour’s candidate.

Councillor McMahon - who most make front-runner - became a councillor for Failsworth East in 2003, aged 23. He held a number of council posts before becoming leader of the losing Oldham Labour group in 2008 - a loss he corrected as Labour came back to local power in the 2011 local elections, making him council leader.

In 2014 he was named Council Leader of the Year and also became lead member for Transport and Infrastructure for the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, and leader of the Labour group at the Local Government Association, which repesents councils countrywide.

He will be up against Mohammed Azam, a former Oldham councillor for Alexandra ward from 1999-2004 and losing selection candidate for the 2011 Oldham East and Saddleworth by-election, losing to Debbie Abrahams who went on to win the seat.

Chris Williamson is looking to return to the House of Commons at the soonest possible opportunity, having lost the Derby North seat at May’s General Election.

Jane East stood for Labour in the Colne Valley constituency in the General Election, coming second to Conservative Jason McCartney. The Christian Aid worker says she stands for “fairness, honesty and equality” and is “an ordinary person standing up for ordinary people.”



Meanwhile the Liberal Democrats have selected Jane Brophy as their candidate for the by-election.

Mrs Brophy is an experienced local campaigner and a 15-year councillor in Greater Manchester. She has worked for the NHS and has been involved in childhood nutrition in Oldham.

Mrs Brophy currently works for the NHS in Lancashire and is on the England board of the British Dietetic Association.

She said: “Michael Meacher was a well-respected MP and it would be an honour to succeed him.”