Selection News: Elwyn Watkins to fight Oldham East
Written by Richard Huzzey on 9th September 2007 – 10:33 pmRochdale Councillor Elwyn Watkins has been selected to fight Oldham East and Saddleworth for the Lib Dems. Elwyn, 43 beat off 4 other candidates and has now promised to hit Labour hard.
Elwyn, a financial analyst for a Sheikh in the Middle East said, “I am obviously delighted that local members have shown their faith in me. I will repay that faith by working hard with Councillors and Members to regain this seat. Phil Woolas MP has a poor record and I am going to expose that. People in Oldham East and Saddleworth are sick of a largely, London based Labour apologist and want a return to a hard working local MP like Chris Davies. My first priority is to work with the Council Group to deliver a Lib Dem Council, just like we’ve delivered in next-door Rochdale. I have a track record of beating Labour and I am proud to have the opportunity to prove it.”
Oldham East and Saddleworth is one of the Lib Dem’s top target seats and only a 5% swing from Labour is needed to win the seat. In this year’s local elections the results in the Constituency were:
- LibDem 13964
- Lab 6698
- Con 3939
Elwyn is currently a member of Rochdale Council, and has been involved in the party for well over 20 years. He was a central figure in the successful General Election campaign in Rochdale in 2005 and has helped in numerous by-elections.
Posted in Selection news
9th September 2007 at 11:38 pm
Surely the headline should read “Cllr Watkins to fight Oldham East and Saddleworth” not Rochdale!!
9th September 2007 at 11:41 pm
I just noticed the same thing and wondered if anyone had told Paul Rowen
I’ve corrected it.
10th September 2007 at 12:30 am
That’s Rochdale AND Oldham East and Saddleworth in the bag for Labour then!
BTW what was the turnout in the locals versus the last General Election?
10th September 2007 at 2:34 am
Rochdale Lib Dem gain but Oldham East Labour Hold
10th September 2007 at 8:36 am
Yesterday was not a good day for copy editing… you could almost tell I was under time pressure as I prepared those posts!
10th September 2007 at 11:15 am
We’ll forgive you, Elwyn is a great candidate. I should know I’ve worked with him for nearly 3 years. He is a superb Councillor and strikes fear into Labour wherever he stands.
Bring it on…
10th September 2007 at 1:05 pm
Hi Dave
Is it right that he has stood successfully just once and been a councillor for one year?
And what’s all this about being a financial advisor to a Sheikh in the Middle East?
Best w
Chris P
(Quaking)
10th September 2007 at 5:30 pm
I’m glad that Laboury supporters have already got the wind up. When I first stood against them their vote colapsed. When I stood against them again, inspite of a very dirty campaign they still did very poorly in a ward that they used to win! For the record I was born a total of three miles outside the constitency which is a lot better than the London based MP who I understand comes from nowhere near the constituency.
11th September 2007 at 9:05 pm
“And what’s all this about being a financial advisor to a Sheikh in the Middle East?”
Obviously dedicated to wealth redistribution then…
12th December 2007 at 5:46 pm
Let’s hope he’s better than that previous unfortunate offering Mr Dawson who is mentioned on this link
http://www.thesouthportparty.co.uk/text-Elections%202005.htm
And of course its all true fact for if it were not it would have been removed ages ago.