Margate district councillor Ela Lodge-Pritchard has been selected unanimously as the Labour candidate to contest the Margate West seat in the 2009 Kent County Council elections.

After the selection meeting held, Cllr Lodge-Pritchard, who represents Salmestone Ward, said: "I have watched this constituency grow and change since I was a young girl at school in Birchington.

"Throughout the years there have been pressures on housing, employment, the need to protect local agriculture and green belt land, roads and highways, recreational activities and schools.

"Balancing these different interests will always be a challenge, and listening to what local people say is a good start.

"For far too long the County Council has neglected our part of Kent and has not attended sufficiently to our quality of life or our needs. We only need look at educational standards that have slipped; social welfare provision that has been short-changed, and the appalling accident rates on the highways, as examples.

"I’m very grateful for the support I’ve had from my party, for they know that I believe in fairness and straight-talking. I’ll be canvassing local opinion and supporting constituents across the whole of Margate West, not just at election time but now and over the years to come."