Category Archives: Selection

Elmet and Rothwell nomination meetings

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On Tuesday, July 16 (tomorrow evening) all five branches of Elmet and Rothwell constituency Labour Party will hold their nomination meetings where they will be able to nominate candidates to be considered by all members in the final vote.

I’m asking you to attend the meeting in Garforth and to please nominate me as Labour’s prospective Parliamentary candidate. This is very important as your nomination at your branch will ensure this important decision is made by local Labour Party members instead of it being imposed upon us from outside.

I believe – and many local members and councillors – believe that only a hardworking, local candidate with a real record of success can beat Alec Shelbrooke. Labour members from every ward have pledged their support, because they know I can beat the Tories.

I don’t just talk about challenging Alec Shelbrooke. I do it. Attacking him in the media, in leaflets and on the internet to challenge his government’s HS2 failures, the Bedroom Tax and privatising our NHS. Just in the last few days I’ve defended our historic link with trade unions where the subscriptions of millions of workers help fund the Labour Party, while attacking his Tories for preferring to take money from betting firms and bankers.

That’s why he in his last newsletter he attacked me for challenging his perverse ‘Benefit Card’ to stigmatise people on benefit.

Many in our party talk about using the internet to campaign, but I do it and have done for the last eight years – on my website, Facebook and Twitter.

I’m a working class woman who grew up in a council house and started work in a factory. I’ve worked in the public, private, voluntary sectors and am now self-employed. I’m exactly the sort of candidate that Labour needs as voters are fed up with politics as usual where MPs are remote from their constituencies and have spent their lives working in politics in London. I used to be a local councillor for Garforth, Swillington and Methley and I’ve lived in our constituency for 22 years.

I beat a Liberal Democrat to win my council seat in Rothwell and I will beat a Tory in Elmet and Rothwell to win a seat in Parliament for Labour.  

I love Elmet and Rothwell and want to serve its people. I already live here with my family. My husband works here and our daughter is at school here. Nominate me if you think there should be more real people in Parliament.

If you need to know anything about the nomination meeting then please get in touch.

Wetherby member backs me for Elmet and Rothwell

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Huge thanks to my latest Elmet and Rothwell parliamentary selection supporter Shaquille Clarke from Wetherby:

Shaquille“A strong local candidate with deep local roots is a must if Labour is to defeat Alec Shelbrooke next year. I believe Karen Bruce is that person, and I would recommend giving her your support in order for her to become our Labour candidate.”

Garforth and Swillington councillor Mark Dobson backs Karen

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Mark Dobson

I want to say a huge thanks to my fellow councillor Mark Dobson who is putting his faith in me and shares my belief that we need a hard-working local candidate who has a real record of delivering for the Labour Party and the constituency.

I’ve worked with Mark for many years and it would be difficult to find a more hard working, committed colleague. Not only did he win a seat off the Tories to become a great ward councillor for Garforth and Swillington, but he also has an extremely challenging job as Executive Member for Environment and he is also vice-chair of the constituency.

We need a candidate who will not only fight a good campaign that appeals to local people, but even more importantly as an MP will fight for Elmet and Rothwell in Westminster. It isn’t a decision that should be made lightly or quickly so I’ve taken my time to consider who will be the best person for the job.

We need a candidate who is rooted in local issues and will fight for what is right locally and nationally. A candidate who will fight for more power for the regions and local councils. A candidate who will fight to ensure all our local schools are excellent, not just a select few. A candidate who genuinely understands the local environmental and community impact of HS2 as well as the strategic benefits it could bring to the region. A candidate who knows from first-hand experience the devastating effect of benefit cuts on local people. A candidate who is already campaigning against and challenging Alec Shelbrooke.

I believe that Labour needs real working class candidates who are actually from our community to represent us in Parliament. Above all our choice of candidate should be a decision by local Labour members for local Labour members.

That candidate is Karen Bruce.

I’ve worked with Karen since she was a Garforth, Swillington and Methley councillor and I was chair of Garforth Residents’ Association in the early 2000s. We worked together in the fight to save Garforth and Rothwell fire stations and Karen impressed me with the energy, imagination and hard work she put into the successful campaign.

Karen always puts local people first and campaigns hard for Labour with a real record of achievement that includes winning back seats.

Mark Dobson, Karen Bruce and David Nagle at Rothwell Country Park

Elmet and Rothwell selection infographic

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Every local Elmet and Rothwell member should have received my first letter and leaflet by now so I thought I’d share a version of it with everyone else. This infographic is designed to show my experience and expertise that I believe makes me the best candidate to defeat Alex Shelbrooke and win Elmet and Rothwell back for Labour.

It shows how deeply rooted and active I am in the local community and the Labour Party as well as the fact that I’ve got lots of real world experience. This not only means I can relate to local voters, but more importantly they can relate to me and see that my life, work and family is very similar to their own.

Karen Bruce for Elmet and Rothwell infographic

Elmet and Rothwell Labour selection starts

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Yesterday the Labour Party officially started the process to select the Labour candidate for Elmet and Rothwell in the 2015 general election. Today we’ll also find out what Tory chancellor George Osborne has planned in his Comprehensive Spending Review for further cuts and how they might hurt people in Elmet and Rothwell.

Before I announced that I was standing I was humbled by the councillors and local members who encouraged me to put my name forward. Since I publicly announced that I was standing I’ve been overwhelmed by the support and encouragement I’ve received from local Elmet and Rothwell members, as well as colleagues on Leeds City Council.

I already know many of the Elmet and Rothwell members, but over the course of the next few weeks I aim to revisit old friends and colleagues that I’ve got to know and worked with over the last 20 years, as well as meeting new ones.

I’ll be posting updates here on my blog and on my Facebook page Karen for Elmet and Rothwell. And you can also follow me on Twitter.