Swansea East Liberal Democrat Candidate selected

10.31.34pm BST (GMT +0100) Thu 3rd Aug 2006

Welsh Liberal Democrats in the Swansea East constituency have selected their candidate to fight next year's Assembly Elections.

Helen Ceri Clarke, a local campaigner from Morriston, was chosen unopposed to fight the seat, in which the Welsh Liberal Democrats are seen as the main challengers to Labour. The party took second place in both the General Election and the 2003 Assembly Elections in the constituency. They are also the only other political party apart from Labour to have elected Councillors there, winning five seats in 2004.

Helen Ceri Clarke has stood for the Assembly before. In 2003 she contested the Neath constituency, however since then she has been an active campaigner in the Morriston area. In the last local elections she narrowly missed out winning a seat there off Labour, polling over 1440 votes. A former traffic warden in the area, she now works for Peter Black AM as a caseworker and lives in Vicarage Road with her husband, Jonathan. They are expecting their first baby in January.

Speaking after her selection Helen said: "It is an honour to be selected to fight in the area where I live and where I have put so much into campaigning for the Welsh Liberal Democrats. The people of Swansea East deserve a better deal from the Assembly than the Labour government is currently offering.

"They need to be represented by a hard-working local campaigner with a track record of action. That is what I have to offer and I will be working tirelessly between now and next year's election to let people know that only the Welsh Liberal Democrats offer a real alternative to Labour around here."

Welsh Liberal Democrat Assembly Member, Peter Black, added: "Helen was the obvious choice to fight this seat. She is a committed community campaigner who is really passionate about her politics and about getting things done for local people. Her energy and her determination will enable us to take the fight to Labour and to challenge hard to win this seat off them."