Ealing, Acton and Shepherd's Bush

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Preview of the forthcoming election in this Constituency

In the last election Clive Soley's majority for Labour was reduced from 15,650 to 10,789 with his share of the vote down to 54.1% from 58.4%.

Turnout was 37,201 which represents 52.6% of those eligible to vote. In 1997 the corresponding figures were 48,061 and 66.7%

Clive Soley will be standing down so the constituency will have a new MP on May 5th

The Labour Party will be putting up Andrew Slaughter to defend the seat.

He lives locally and his family has lived in this part of west London for as far back as he can trace.

He is a governor of the William Morris Sixth Form Academy, and sit on the boards of the Hammersmith & Fulham Community Law Centre and Broadway, the charity for single homeless people.

In the 1980s, he worked with Michael Meacher MP, then a member of the Shadow Cabinet, to help on employment and social security issues. Afterwards he moved to the BBC’s ‘Question Time’ programme. In the 1990s, after training as a barrister, he combined a practice in criminal, housing and personal injury law with his role as Deputy Leader and then Leader of Hammersmith & Fulham Council.

You can contact him by phone on 07860 815138 or e-mail him at andy@andyslaughter.com.

The Conservatives have selected Jonathan Gough (left) to contest the seat.

An Oxford graduate and former Guards officer who saw active service, he will be hoping that controversy over the West London Tram and Ealing Council's spending programme will be sufficient to generate enough votes so that he can take the seat once represented for his party by Sir George Young.

His five campaign promises are - to clean up our local hospitals; to stop Livingstone's West London Tram; to allow more police to fight crime harder; to raise the state pension; to introduce fairer and lower taxes. If you contact him he will send you a DVD explaining more.

He is a Governor of the South Acton Early Excellence Centre (Heathfield Nursery School) and was a Governor at his daughters' primary school between 2000 and 2004.

You can e-mail him on jg@jonathangough.co.uk or phone him on 020 8992 4367

The Liberal Democrats, are looking to Gary Malcolm to maintain their momentum. Aged 31, Gary Malcolm has been a councilor with Ealing Council since 2002 representing Ealing, Acton and Shepherd’s Bush.

He is the Liberal Democrat Group’s spokesperson on Transport and Environmental matter and has spoken at national and regional conferences on a range of issues including policing, health and the West London Tram.

He has campaigned vigorously against the First Group's reduction of local train services and is currently taking Ealing Council to task over the plans to cut down the borough's lime trees.

Geoff Burgess will be contesting the constituency for the Green Party. He is a keen local campaigner who is currently pressing to reduce cars in cities and improve tenant rights. He is also an enthusiastic communicator of science.

"Small improvements in tenancy law would lead to a significant rise in contentment and pride in our communities; and landlords should be forced to improve insulation and energy efficiency. Ealing, Acton and Shepherd's Bush, like all of London, need a massive reduction of urban car use and I will make a bold difference."

April 20, 2005