MEMBERS of the Labour Party in Rutherglen and Cambuslang will have to choose from a shortlist of six to see who will stand for the party at the upcoming General Election.
The party confirmed this week that half a dozen names had been put forward, but only three live in the constituency and none are likely to be household names in the two towns, with people like Councillor Richard Tullett and Patricia Osborne not appearing on the list.
The early favourite is Tom Greatrex, who worked as an political aide to Secretary of State for Scotland, first for Des Brown and then for Jim Murphy.
Mr Greatrex (35) moved to Cambuslang two years ago. He spent a year as an advisor to the Chief Whip in 1997 and has worked for East Dunbartonshire Council and the NHS since moving to Scotland from down south.
The Reformer understands that Labour members in Rutherglen and Cambuslang are being encouraged to back Mr Greatrex in the ballot, while he is expected to have the support of retiring MP, Tommy McAvoy.
Councillor Allan Falconer will be hoping his 15 years as a South Lanarkshire councillor, first for Hillhouse and then Hamilton West and Earnock, will win support.
The former community councillor, who works in social care, is currently the vice-chair of the Strathclyde Police Authority and the Police Negotiation Board, which thrashes out pay deals for 166,000 cops across the UK.
A member of the Labour Party for over 25 years, the 56-year-old thinks he has the experience to take over from Mr McAvoy.
He said: “I have gone from activist to community councillor to councillor and I feel I am ready now to take the step up.
“The opportunity has come up. It was a shock that Tommy is stepping down for his own reasons, but I feel I have had enough experience and I have always been representative of the communities I have served.”
The third local name on the list is Liz-Anne Handibode, who had been widely expected to be in the running.
The daughter of Blantyre councillor, Jim Handibode, she currently works for South Lanarkshire Council and has served as a ‘link officer’ between Labour and the public services’ union Unison.
The three remaining candidates - Paul Devlin, Matthew Kerr and Doug Maughan - are all from outwith the constituency and are thought to have little chance of winning the nomination.
Doug Maughan previously stood for the Perth seat in 2005, but was soundly beaten, finishing in fourth place with under 13 per cent of the vote.
The first hustings for candidates will take place in Blantyre on Friday (March, 12) while votes from around 400 local party members will need to be cast by March 22.
Whoever wins the nomination will be the hot favourite to win the seat at the election, which must take place by June 3.
The Labour candidate will be defending a majority of 16,112, over 55 per cent of the popular vote in 2005.
