A long-serving Labour councillor from Fleetwood has been announced as the constituency’s prospective parliamentary candidate to contest the next General Election for the party.

Coun Lorraine Beavers, who currently holds posts on three different tiers of local government, will challenge Conservative MP Paul Maynard for the newly-created Blackpool North and Fleetwood seat when voters next go to the polls.

Mr Maynard is currently the MP for the Blackpool North and Cleveleys constituency but the seat will change for the next elections, after the constituency boundaries were re-drawn.

Coun Beavers currently sits on Fleetwood Town Council and also represents Fleetwood constituencies on Wyre Council and Lancashire County Council.

placeholder image — Coun Lorraine Beavers

She is deputy leader of the Labour opposition group at both the Wyre and County authorities.

The mother-of-two and grandmother, aged 60, said she was delighted to have been selected by Labour party members within the constituency

She said: “I joined the Labour party when I was 16 years old and I am still as passionate as I was then about social justice and trying to change the world as I was then.

"I have not been parachuted in from somewhere else, I was born here, grew up in Fleetwood and know all the issues that we have here.

"I have funded free-swimming in Fleetwood for families, I helped in the fight to reopen our swimming pool after the lockdown and fought for tram users to be able to use their NOW cards on the trams.

"But it’s not just about Fleetwood, it’s about trying to make things better for people across the whole constituency – Labour has a great chance in the next election.”