Local councillor standing as 'paper candidate' in Wirral

'I’m on the candidates’ list to get some experience, really'

DISTRICT councillor Claire Rowles (Con, Hungerford and Kintbury) is standing for election...in Merseyside.

Mrs Rowles, who was elected to West Berkshire Council this year, is the Conservative’s parliamentary candidate for Birkenhead, a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral.

One Hungerford resident, Paul Bishop of Cherry Grove, said: “I was astounded to learn of this.

“She was selling herself in May as a local candidate and I voted for her – but now she’s telling Birkenhead constituents she’s the best person to represent them in Parliament.

“So she’ll be spending time campaigning 200 miles away instead of looking after her constituents here. It beggars belief.”

Mrs Rowles, who lives in Boxford and who chairs the West Berkshire Conservative Association, said when standing for the Hungerford and Kintbury ward in May: “I’m a truly local candidate, having grown up around Kintbury and Hungerford, and now live and work in Boxford, which falls within the new ward under the boundary changes.

“ I am therefore aware of the local issues.”

She said regarding her Birkenhead candidacy: “To be honest, it’s almost like being a paper candidate.

“I’m up against Frank Field [former Labour MP and current Social Justice candidate] and Labour.

“There’s such a massive Labour majority.

“But I want to help out in marginal seats.

“I’ve been helping out in Reading East, for example, because I want to get Boris Johnson elected.

“I’m on the candidates’ list to get some experience, really.”