Ken Rustidge has been selected as Labour’s candidate for the North East Cambridgeshire constituency to stand in this June’s general election.

Mr Rustidge was Labour’s candidate in the 2015 general election, and works in West Pinchbeck.

He is a major in the Army Reserve with over 30 years’ service, and has taught in Fenland schools for over 20 years. He is currently an NUT executive member and trade union officer, and he says that the impact of Tory cuts to local schools is one of the main driving factors in his decision to stand for the Labour Party in the area for a second time.

He said: “People here in North East Cambs need a local representative that will put them first.

“ I will work tirelessly between now and June to let local people know that this general election will be a choice between a Labour Party that will stand up for the people of North East Cambridgeshire or a Conservative Party that only looks after the privileged few.”

Sue Marshall, chairman of the constituency Labour Party, said: “I welcome the appointment of Ken Rustidge as Labour’s Candidate for N.E. Cambs for June’s general election.

“As someone who knows Ken well, I know that if elected on the 8th June, he will put this area first and will be a committed and local MP – that’s what our area deserves.

“Over the coming weeks I will be joining Ken and the team on the campaign trail and am looking forward to supporting him as Labour’s candidate.”

Ken be contacted by email on rustidge4cambs@gmail.com and the latest news from his campaign will be on his Facebook Page and Twitter account, @Ken4Cambs.

In 2015 Mr Rustidge came third – behind UKIP in second place and the winner, Steve Barclay for the Conservatives. He polled 7,476 votes – or 14.4 per cent share of the overall total. It was a drop of 3.4 per cent on the previous election.