Jackie Pearcey will fight Manchester Gorton by-election for the Lib Dems

Jackie Pearcey was the overwhelming choice of party members at a packed selection meeting on Saturday afternoon to become the Liberal Democrat candidate in Manchester Gorton.

This is for the by-election following the death of the late MP Sir Gerald Kaufman in what is already building into a competitive two horse race between Labour and the Liberal Democrats.

Jackie served as a Councillor in Manchester Gorton for over 20 years.

Jackie Pearcey said:

"I am really excited to have been selected by the Liberal Democrats to be the candidate in this by-election. Sir Gerald Kaufman served this area extremely well and it will be both a challenge and an honour to fill his shoes.

"Manchester Gorton deserves a local champion to stand up for our community against Theresa May's hard Brexit plans, against the wishes of local people. Labour can't stand up for us whilst they're too busy arguing amongst themselves in Westminster and supporting the Tories on Brexit.

"Labour have also failed locally, just this week increasing council tax for Manchester's poorest residents by 22%. It is clear that Labour has been treating Manchester like a one-party state and has been taking it for granted for too long.

"It is also vital that Manchester Gorton has someone to stand up for local NHS services, and defends them from Tory cuts. This great area deserves better."

Update 2:

Tony has mentioned this Manchester Evening News article in the comments and I thought it was worth putting in the main site just to show you how functional, together and united the local Labour Party in Gorton is.

Last year a mammoth falling-out between different factions and personalities reached its zenith at a Levenshulme branch meeting. As with all things to do with Gorton CLP it can be difficult to get to the actual facts - but suffice to say the police were called in amid claims of vote-rigging, abuse and intimidation.

A letter from regional office to the CLP at the time said allegations 'related to the conduct of Labour party members both during and outside of Labour party meetings', as well as to 'the conduct of members of the CLP executive committee in administering internal ballots'.

It had received complaints from members fearing for their safety, it added.

In contrast, the same paper observes in a different article that the Liberal Democrats are intent on giving Labour a run for their money in Gorton.