Progress activist Mary Wimbury wins Wrexham selection

Mary Wimbury, a member of the strategy board of Corbynsceptic group Progress, has won the selection contest in the Welsh marginal seat of Wrexham, and will replace Ian C. Lucas as the Labour candidate at the upcoming election.

LabourList understands that the winning candidate picked up 60 votes from local members, while her opponent Helen Grout – a local charity worker – gained 40 votes. The leader of the Labour group on Wrexham Council, Dana Davies, and Sharon Morris were also included on the all-women shortlist of four.

The new parliamentary candidate for Wrexham previously stood as a Welsh Labour candidate in Aberconway in 2015, for the Welsh Assembly in 2017 and for the European Parliament in 2018. Wimbury works in social care. She used to run an education charity and has worked for the BBC and two local government organisations.

Wimbury was congratulated on her win by Labour First secretary Luke Akehurst, who tweeted: “One of the best candidates to be selected by Labour, someone with absolute integrity and great politics who I have been proud to be a political ally of since way back in 1991”.

The seat became available following the announcement from incumbent MP Ian Lucas that he would be retiring after almost two decades in parliament. Wrexham is not safe for Labour, though it has returned Labour MPs since 1935. Labour won it in 2017 with a majority of just 1,832 votes.