The Welwyn Hatfield Labour Party has announced its new parliamentary candidate.
Labour have announced Tara-Mary Lyons as their parliamentary candidate for Welwyn Hatfield at the next general election.
Miss Lyons, who has lived in Hatfield for four years, is currently a borough councillor for Hatfield Villages.
In 2017 she was voted Labour’s first ever councillor, by just seven votes, in the otherwise Conservative stronghold of Hatfield Villages.
She will also stand for the town council in Hatfield Villages in the upcoming elections on May 3, which was previously the seat of the late mayor Lynne Sparks, who died unexpectedly in February.
Miss Lyons’ selection as the parliamentary candidate comes from an all-female shortlist specified by the Parliamentary Labour Party.
Labour’s previous candidate, Anawar Miah, was on the selection committee for this round.
Miss Lyons, 46, is the managing director of Indiefield, a market research fieldwork company, and is also a trustee of the Wellfield Trust, a charity that supports people in need and funds other charitable projects based in Hatfield.
Outside of her consultancy work and party work, her home life revolves around her three dogs, a border collie, a lurcher, and a saluki.
“I love living in the area and taking them out walking,” she said.
She is strongly against the recent military strikes in Syria, calling them “appalling”.
Asked what the alternative is, she said: “Have we really exhausted all the diplomatic channels over there? I find it hard to believe.
“Diplomacy, and not bombing, is the way to end Syria’s agony.”
Looking ahead to national elections, Miss Lyons said she was excited about the task ahead of her.
She said: “The next general election might be scheduled for four years from now, but if we’ve learned anything in recent years, it’s not to take anything for granted in politics.
“And whether it’s four years or six months, I believe now is the time to start preparing.
“Labour showed in 2017 that we can challenge the Tories, and I was proud to be part of that by winning a borough council seat here in Welwyn Hatfield.
“Our message, of opposing austerity and working for the many not the few, is one that resonates across the country.
“I look forward to building a strong local platform and showing voters that we are the party with both the values and the policies to change Britain for the better.”
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