East Lothian MP Fiona O’Donnell has been unanimously re-selected by her local party to be its candidate at the next UK general election. 

Party members from across the county convened in Prestonpans Labour Party Club yesterday (Thursday 31 October) evening to conduct the vote. All the party’s local branches and affiliated organisations gave Ms O’Donnell their support, meaning that she will contest the 2015 Westminster general election as the Labour Party candidate in the East Lothian constituency.

Speaking after the meeting, Fiona O’Donnell MP said:

“Being elected as East Lothian’s Member of Parliament in May 2010 was a proud moment. It also brought a huge sense of responsibility.  It has been an absolute privilege to represent our beautiful county in Parliament over the last three and a half years. I have done my utmost to help local people and support communities and am eager to continue this work.

“I am lucky to be part of a strong, united Labour team in East Lothian and I want to thank Iain Gray and Willie Innes for all their support. I also want to thank my local party for giving me this vote of confidence and putting their faith in me to be Labour’s candidate here again in 2015.

“My pledge to the county is to continue to be a full-time MP, being as accessible as possible in the constituency and at Westminster and giving East Lothian a strong voice in the UK Parliament. We have an exceptionally important period ahead of us, during which I will be making every effort to help ensure that Scotland remains a part of the United Kingdom.”

Pat O’Brien, Vice-Chair of East Lothian Labour Party, said:

“We are very fortunate to have an exceptionally hard-working and popular MP as part of our first class Labour team in East Lothian. Fiona has had a remarkable impact over the last three and a half years, giving the county a strong voice in Parliament, campaigning on the issues that matter to local people, and forging excellent links with groups throughout the constituency.

“East Lothian Labour Party is in excellent shape and we are very well placed to ensure that Fiona is re-elected in 2015. But we are in no way complacent and will be fighting hard for every vote from now until the election. I want to urge any supporters who like what we are doing to join us and help win next year’s referendum, and then return Fiona to the UK Parliament in May 2015.”