Former top Labour MP in bid to return to the Commons

By PA News

Published: 14:05, 23 July 2022

| Updated: 15:11, 23 July 2022

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Heidi Alexander giving a speech at the Labour Party’s annual conference in 2015 (Gareth Fuller/PA)

Former Labour MP Heidi Alexander is bidding to return to the Commons, after she was selected as the party’s candidate for the South Swindon constituency.

To return as an MP, the former shadow cabinet member would need to defeat Welsh Secretary Robert Buckland, who has held the seat since 2010 and currently has a majority of around 6,600 votes.

Ms Alexander left her seat of Lewisham East in 2018 to become Sadiq Khan’s deputy mayor for transport.

Being selected as Labour’s Candidate for South Swindon means the world to me – thank you @LabSouthSwindon. Am determined to build a winning team here and to make a real difference to my home town. Sign up to be part of our campaign: https://t.co/U2R5kuDLs2 pic.twitter.com/8aabilA5wQ
— Heidi Alexander (@Heidi_Labour) July 23, 2022

A former shadow health secretary, she was among the MPs to quit Jeremy Corbyn’s frontbench in 2016 after she said she lost confidence in his leadership.

She tweeted that the selection “means the world to me”.

“Am determined to build a winning team here and to make a real difference to my home town,” she said.

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