LABOUR has named the candidate it hopes can oust Conservative MP David Mundell from the Tweeddale seat at Westminster, writes Bob Burgess.
She’s party activist Claudia Beamish – the daughter of a former Tory MP, the late Lord Chelwood.
As Sir Tufton Beamish, the right-winger represented Lewes in Sussex from 1945 – succeeding his father – until he retired from the Commons at the 1974
general election. The Second World War hero who won the Military Cross was elevated to the Lords the same year. He died in 1989.
His daughter has been a leading member of the Labour Party in Scotland for many years and has been a list candidate at all three Scottish Parliamentary elections – 1999, 2003 and 2007.
Ms Beamish – who lives at Pettinain between Biggar and Lanark – has been on the party’s Scottish executive for the past seven years and is a member of Labour’s Scottish Policy Forum.
She won a four-way fight in a ballot of constituency members and will have to overturn a 1,738 majority to oust David Mundell – Scotland’s sole Tory MP.
The mother-of-two says she has already began marshalling her troops for battle, saying: “Invaluable experience with the Scottish Policy Forum, which is the party’s network of members, has given me a very clear understanding of what changes are needed for a fairer and sustainable Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale.
“I look forward to meeting and listening to people in our communities, workplaces, businesses and the voluntary sector throughout the constituency.”
Ms Beamish is a teacher who works in two rural schools. She lives with her actor partner Michael Derrington. She has a daughter at Edinburgh University and a son at Lanark Grammar.
The Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale seat was a controversial creation following a review of constituencies by the Boundary Commission for Scotland. The first – and so far only – voting took place at the 2005 general election.
The full article contains 326 words and appears in Southern Reporter newspaper.
