Simon Wright chosen to contest Norwich South

9.45.36am BST (GMT +0100) Wed 18th Oct 2006

Simon Wright

Liberal Democrats have chosen Simon Wright as their parliamentary candidate to contest Norwich South at the next General Election. The Liberal Democrats finished in strong second place last year in the constituency, just 3,653 votes behind Labour MP Charles Clarke, and the seat is a top target for the party at the next election.

"I am delighted to have been chosen by Liberal Democrat members to contest Norwich South," said Simon. "It would be a great honour to represent the city in which I live in Parliament. After coming close second place last year, I know we have a real opportunity to win here at the next general election."

"One of my biggest concerns in Norwich is the financial position of the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital and our local health services. I will campaign vigorously to protect the quality of patient care. The Government must recognise that locally we are paying over the odds as one of the first areas to have a PFI hospital. Ministers must ensure that the hospital gets sufficient support. I am deeply worried about the financial impact of the PFI contract, and the prospect of health care cutbacks across Norfolk as a result of the Norfolk Primary Care Trust's £30 million deficit."

"I will also be speaking up on environmental issues. Here in Norfolk, we are on front line frontline of climate change and rising sea-levels, and the Liberal Democrats have the most radical policies of all the main parties to tackle these problems. We would reduce national taxes on income and on those who live in an environmentally friendly way, and instead tax polluting behaviour."

"I will be campaigning against council tax, which is an unfair tax as it takes no account of ability to pay. It hits those on fixed incomes, such as pensioners, the hardest. It must go."

Mr Wright, a former secondary school teacher of mathematics, works as constituency agent for Norman Lamb, Liberal Democrat MP for North Norfolk. He was Mr Lamb's campaign manager at the last election, responsible for the campaign which saw the Liberal Democrats retain the North Norfolk seat on a massively increased majority of 10,606 votes.

He is also a district councillor in North Norfolk, and has spent most of life in the county. He was brought up on a farm in Norfolk. He spent four years in London studying mathematics at Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, and then a Post Graduate Certificate of Education (PGCE) in Secondary Mathematics at Kings College London.

He lives in Eaton with his wife Rosalind. The couple were recently married at Eaton St Andrews parish church.

The constituency boundaries of Norwich South are due to change at the next general election. The seat will be fought next time with the Nine wards of the City of Norwich:- Bowthorpe, Eaton, Lakenham, Mancroft, Nelson, Thorpe Hamlet, Town Close, University, Wensum; one ward of the District of South Norfolk:- New Costessey. Cringleford, currently part of Norwich South, will move into South Norfolk. Two wards currently divided across Norwich North and Norwich South constituencies will be adjusted, so that all of Thorpe Hamlet ward is contained within Norwich South, and all of Crome ward is within Norwich North.

An independent report into the the new constituency boundaries published by UK Polling Report (in association with polling company You Gov) includes calculated 'notional results' - a prediction of how the results would have looked if the votes cast in 2005 were counted with respect to the new boundaries due to come into effect at the next general election. The notional result for Norwich South sees Labour's majority in 2005 slashed to just over 3,000 votes, and suggests only a 3.85% swing to the Lib Dems will be needed to win next time.

Related Link:

UK Polling Report.