Bridgnorth Labour councillor bidding to become MEP
A Bridgnorth councillor has been chosen to represent the West Midlands area for Labour in the upcoming European elections.
Councillor Julie Buckley, who represents East ward in the town, applied for the post and beat 80 other applicants and will now represent the party at the elections tomorrow.
Miss Buckley, who works at Wolverhampton Council securing EU funding, has a PhD in EU policy and has previously worked in Brussels.
She has spoken at several hustings around the region – including Shrewsbury, Birmingham and Stratford – where representatives from each party were invited to present their policies and answer audience questions in a Question Time format.
She said: "I'm delighted to be selected as a candidate for the West Midlands in these historic elections.
"I will speak up for Shropshire. We must not get overlooked in these turbulent times and I will continue to work hard to represent Bridgnorth and beyond.
"Most of the other EU candidates on offer are based in Birmingham and other large cities. The West Midlands is a huge area if you think about it – covering almost six million people. Let's make sure Shropshire's voice gets heard."
The EU elections operate using a proportional representation system which organises votes by regions and requires political parties to compile a team of MEP candidates in rank order.
Voters then select one party and depending on vote share, will secure MEPs in the list order. Of the seven MEP candidates in the region, Miss Buckley was selected in third place after sitting MEPs Neena Gill and Sion Simon, meaning that she could potentially be successful and become a voice for Shropshire in the EU.
David Hallam, former West Midands MEP between 1994 and 1999, previously opened an office in Underhill Street in Bridgnorth and is now working as an advisor to the current Labour MEP Neena Gill and urged Julia to speak up for rural farmers and food producers in our region should she be elected.
