THE Labour Party has chosen a new Parliamentary candidate for the Bournemouth East constituency.

Corrie Drew, 36, has lived and worked in the area since moving from Redditch at the age of eighteen.

Following her selection, Ms Drew said: "I'm honoured to have been selected as the candidate for the local party and will work tirelessly to bring about the policies laid out in our excellent manifesto, For the Many, Not the Few.

“Labour offers a real vision of hope for the people of Bournemouth. There’s obviously enthusiasm for our policies, our share of the vote increased greatly at the last election and we will build on that."

The seat was for many decades held by Conservative David Atkinson, until the incumbent, his party colleague Tobias Ellwood MP, took over in 2005.

Mr Ellwood increased his vote share in last year's General Election, gaining 25,221, but then-Labour candidate Mel Semple won 17,284, a rise of more than 10,000 votes on 2015 and the first time the party had ever won more than 10,000 votes in the constituency.

Ms Drew, 36, listed priority issues in Bournemouth as rising rents and a lack of council housing.

She said the NHS "needs to be properly funded and for services to be designed around patients" and, on railways, said: "Privatisation has failed the railways and it’s high time they were brought back into public ownership."