Erewash runners and riders: Former PPCs compete for Midlands marginal

Two hugely experienced former parliamentary candidates will tomorrow battle it out to win the Labour nomination for a key middle England marginal.

Catherine Atkinson, who fought the seat for Labour in this summer’s snap vote, is up against Cheryl Pidgeon, a trade unionist and also a former PPC.

The selection will be watched intently by activists from across Labour because of the huge expansion of the local party since 2015 – around 70 per cent of the membership joined over the last two years.

The Tories won a majority of 4,534 in June.

Catherine Atkinson

The CLP chair has been campaigning vigorously on social media to retain her nomination for Erewash, where she competed for Labour in the last two general elections.

Atkinson increased her share of the vote from 35.3 per cent to 43 per cent between 2015 and 2017.

Cheryl Pidgeon

The longstanding activist is a former Midlands regional secretary of construction union UCATT, which is now part of Unite. She has also served as secretary of Erewash CLP.

Pidgeon is known locally for her work in campaigning over pay and conditions at Sports Direct’s notorious warehouse in nearby Shirebrook.  She stood for Labour in Erewash in 2010 and South Derbyshire in 2015.