Angie Bray will battle against another woman
The hotly contested political constituency seat of Ealing Central and Acton will see Labour fielding a woman candidate to stand against the current holder, Conservative MP, Angie Bray.
Ms Bray won with a majority of 3,716 in 2010 and the seat is regarded as a key marginal.
Men outnumber women in the House of Commons by 5 to 1, for Labour it is 3 to 1.
Following consultation with local Labour constituency parties, the National Executive of the Labour Party has agreed that candidates will be chosen using All Women Shortlists in the following London seats:
A minimum of five women will therefore be fighting Labour’s dozen battleground constituencies across London.
Harriet Harman, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, said: “I am calling on women to put themselves forward for the All Women Shortlists announced in London.
“Despite the warm words from David Cameron and Nick Clegg on increasing the number of women in Parliament, we have yet to see any concrete plans that will guarantee an increase in women MPs for either Party currently in government.
“Only the Labour Party has plans in place which are proven to make significant progress. The Labour Party has more women MPs than the Tories and Lib Dems put together.
“But Labour recognises there is still a way to go before we achieve a balanced team of men and women in Parliament. You have to have men and women speaking up in Parliament on behalf of men and women”
Commenting on the news Ms Bray said: '' "I am always pleased to see our political parties trying to get more women into politics and into Parliament. But I have never, myself, been keen on the idea of quotas. I think they can end up discriminating against genuine talent simply on the grounds of gender which doesn't seem very fair to me".
27th February 2013