A seasoned political campaigner has entered the race to become the Labour Party’s next parliamentary candidate in Gedling at the next General Election.

Jamie McMahon this week announced his intention to stand for the Labour nomination.

Mr McMahon, who has worked for Nottingham City Council and the National Deaf Children’s Society, now plays a role in improving public services.

He said the public services he works with are being heavily impacted by Tory cuts which are ‘destroying lives and undermining the hard work of public sector workers.”

“Our public services are being squeezed despite being full to the brink,” he said.

“We need to be delivering the public services everyone wants so we can live happier and healthier lives.

“We need to be investing in the NHS, and in things like Surestart centres and the local Killisick Children’s Centre – which are all under funded.

“We need a Labour government who will invest in these services along with a local MP who will pound the streets and a voice in Westminster to get support for our services.”

Mr McMahon said current Conservative MP Tom Randall is putting his party before the needs of local people.

“People in Gedling are looking for a local champion in Westminster so we can achieve greater things,” he said.

“What you get with Tom is someone who puts Westminster first; he puts the Government first.

“He needs to be amplifying the voices from Gedling in Westminster, not amplifying the voices from Westminster in Gedling.

“Local voices need to be stronger and we need to be bringing people together.

“He added: :”It would be a fantastic honour to be Labour’s MP for Gedling and I think I can do better than what is being offered by Tom at the moment.”

Jamie said he thought the Labour Party under the leadership of Keir Starmer were doing a good job of starting to articulate what would be better under a different Government.

“It’s important we get across what we stand for.

“You’ve got to remember: it wasn’t Boris Johnson or Rishi Sunak putting shots into people’s arms during the pandemic; it was the NHS – and this needs more funding, something Labour believes in doing.”

“Keir is getting our message across – we have a clear vision. People are starting to understand what we stand for.”

Mr McMahon also said he believes Labour would do a better job of tackling the current energy crisis than the Conservatives.

“People are having to choose between heating and eating, which is the choice my Mum had when she was bringing me up back under the Thatcher Government. It’s wasn’t acceptable then – and it’s not acceptable now.”

Labour Party members will select their parliamentary candidate in May.

Labour councillor Michael Payne last week announced he was entering the race to be named as Labour’s next parliamentary candidate.