His selection was overlooked because of the European Elections weekend but Simon Marcus has been adopted for Barking.
He issued this statement:
"I am delighted to have been selected for Barking. Labour have represented Barking for sixty years and it is still one of the most deprived areas in London. Does anyone need more proof that Labour isn’t working? The people of Barking deserve better than a party that talks about about equality, justice and fairness while locking people into state dependency, poverty and social breakdown. Our party has so many of the answers to the problems facing our communities such as failing schools, anti-social behaviour and social mobility that has ground to a halt. Barking deserves to be on the wining side for once and I will do my best to put it there."
Marcus will have his work cut out to oust Margaret Hodge. She has a projected majority of 11,358 but with the BNP making this seat a top target (they have about 16% of the vote compared to the Conservatives' 18% from the last General Election) anything could happen.
Tim Montgomerie
