After the short-lived candidacy of Daniel Gage, Nicola Bates has now been selected to contest Sheffield Hallam, the seat of Lib Dem leader, Nick Clegg.
Nicola is a 29-year old PR consultant, specialising in Government Relations, who was educated at the University of York. She has served as a Special Constable and just last month got engaged to Matthew, who is a Doctor of Politics at Sheffield University.
She said on her selection:
"I am delighted to have been selected as the candidate for Sheffield Hallam and now look forward to working as part of the Conservative team across Sheffield. One of the main issues at the General Election will be the economy. South Yorkshire’s economy still faces many problems and I am confident only the Conservatives have the policies to be able to get it back on track. I will now be going out across the constituency to let people know our plans and hear their thoughts on the challenges that lie ahead.”
Nick Clegg will defend a notional majority of 7,416 over the Conservatives, meaning that Nicola would require a swing of 8.1% to unseat him. Until the seat was seized by the Lib Dems in 1997, it had been held by the Conservatives for all but two years since 1885.
Jonathan Isaby