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Wilson Unanimously Re-adopted as Conservative Parliamentary Candidate
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Following his successful first nineteen months in office, at a meeting of the Reading East Conservative Association on Friday 8 December, Member of Parliament, Rob Wilson, was delighted to be re-adopted, by a unanimous vote, as the Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for the next General Election.
Rob was selected by an open primary system and remains the only MP to be selected by such a system in the House of Commons. On taking office Rob has wasted no time in getting stuck in to the multitude of issues that affect his Reading East constituents. In Westminster Rob has taken up over 3,000 individual cases with Government Ministers and their departments and made his mark on the Education and Skills Select Committee by authoring a minority report on the Government’s Education Bill. In the constituency, Rob has taken action to address the systemic failures at Jobcentre Plus, brought organisations together to help Reading ’s homeless, secured funding for improvements to M4 junction 11 and obtained a commitment to upgrade Reading Station. Rob has also brought important issues to the attention of the Government through national campaigns such as ‘Knives Cost Lives’, ‘Don’t Let Crossrail Hit the Buffers’, ‘Bring the Olympic Torch to Reading’ and ‘Reading Needs Transport Infrastructure’. Following the declaration Rob Wilson commented: “It is a privilege to represent the Reading East Constituency in Parliament and I am delighted by the clear message of support I have received from all parties for the work I have undertaken for Reading East. "I look forward to continuing my work to improve the lives of the constituents I serve and amongst whom I live by ensuring that their views and problems are heard loud and clear at Westminster .” Mike Townend, Chairman of Reading East Conservatives, summed up the view of the local party, saying, "We are delighted to unanimously re-adopt Rob Wilson as our Parliamentary Candidate. He has proved to be an outstanding MP who works tirelessly for the people of Reading East. In Westminster he is a key member of the vitally important Education Select Commitee and has made his mark in the House of Commons where he has raised numerous issues that affect our local community." Mike contrasted the Conservative approach with that of the local Labour party, who de-selected their sitting MP before the 2005 general election. Mike said, "We originally selected Rob Wilson in one of the first 'open primary' selection contests in the UK , an approach that the Conservatives are now using more widely across the county. What a contrast to Labour - no stitch-ups, no discrimination, no all-women short lists, no 'smoke-filled rooms'! "Whilst Labour seek to restrict the choice of candidate, the Conservatives are opening-up the process." |
