Political

“We have a very good chance to put a Liberal Democrat MP back in Sheffield Hallam”

That’s the headline the Sheffield Star has put on its interview with newly selected Liberal Democrat in Sheffield Hallam, Laura Gordon.

The newspaper reports:

There’s no polling day ahead – or at least, not yet. But a political vacuum does exist in Hallam, one the Lib Dems are positioning themselves to fill.

The district’s Labour MP Jared O’Mara is still lying low, denied the party whip after offensive comments he posted online emerged to derail his career just months after he was elected.

While his fate is undecided, the Lib Dems have sensed the prospect of a byelection and the chance to gain a 13th seat in the Commons. The way Laura describes it, defrosting over herbal tea in a city centre café, she appears to already be working as a shadow MP, while O’Mara picks up his Westminster salary.

She is helping people with casework, ‘taking up issues’ for Hallam constituents with councillors and the Lib Dem parliamentary team.

“I feel this is something we can usefully do,” Laura says. “At the moment Jared O’Mara is not holding surgeries, so somebody needs to be looking at those casework issues.”

You can read the full interview here, which includes what constituents say about Nick Clegg’s time as MP for the area:

Lots of people have said ‘I was helped by Nick’, often with things that we might think of as quite small, like getting a road fixed and campaigning on school buses or crossings.

Want to help Laura Gordon? Find out how, including how to make a donation, here.

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