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Labour chooses new candidate for North Swindon

9:00pm Sunday 10th January 2010 in News Photograph of the Author By Emma Streatfield

THE Labour Party’s Parliamentary candidate for north Swindon has been elected with an overwhelming majority.

Victor Agarwal, 36, an airline manager at Heathrow who lives in north Surrey, was chosen on Saturday to take on Tory candidate Justin Tomlinson.

There are many hardworking families across Swindon who are having a tough time with what’s happening in the economy. Things are starting to improve and I don't want a Tory MP to wreck the recovery

Victor Agarwal

There are many hardworking families across Swindon who are having a tough time with what’s happening in the economy. Things are starting to improve and I don't want a Tory MP to wreck the recovery

Victor Agarwal

There are many hardworking families across Swindon who are having a tough time with what’s happening in the economy. Things are starting to improve and I don't want a Tory MP to wreck the recovery

Victor Agarwal

There are many hardworking families across Swindon who are having a tough time with what’s happening in the economy. Things are starting to improve and I don't want a Tory MP to wreck the recovery

There are many hardworking families across Swindon who are having a tough time with what’s happening in the economy. Things are starting to improve and I don't want a Tory MP to wreck the recovery

Victor Agarwal
Victor Agarwal

There are many hardworking families across Swindon who are having a tough time with what’s happening in the economy. Things are starting to improve and I don't want a Tory MP to wreck the recovery

Victor Agarwal

There are many hardworking families across Swindon who are having a tough time with what’s happening in the economy. Things are starting to improve and I don't want a Tory MP to wreck the recovery

Victor Agarwal

There are many hardworking families across Swindon who are having a tough time with what’s happening in the economy. Things are starting to improve and I don't want a Tory MP to wreck the recovery

Victor Agarwal

There are many hardworking families across Swindon who are having a tough time with what’s happening in the economy. Things are starting to improve and I don't want a Tory MP to wreck the recovery

Victor Agarwal

There are many hardworking families across Swindon who are having a tough time with what’s happening in the economy. Things are starting to improve and I don't want a Tory MP to wreck the recovery

Victor Agarwal

There are many hardworking families across Swindon who are having a tough time with what’s happening in the economy. Things are starting to improve and I don't want a Tory MP to wreck the recovery

Victor Agarwal

There are many hardworking families across Swindon who are having a tough time with what’s happening in the economy. Things are starting to improve and I don't want a Tory MP to wreck the recovery

Victor Agarwal

There are many hardworking families across Swindon who are having a tough time with what’s happening in the economy. Things are starting to improve and I don't want a Tory MP to wreck the recovery

Victor Agarwal

There are many hardworking families across Swindon who are having a tough time with what’s happening in the economy. Things are starting to improve and I don't want a Tory MP to wreck the recovery

Victor Agarwal

There are many hardworking families across Swindon who are having a tough time with what’s happening in the economy. Things are starting to improve and I don't want a Tory MP to wreck the recovery

Victor Agarwal

There are many hardworking families across Swindon who are having a tough time with what’s happening in the economy. Things are starting to improve and I don't want a Tory MP to wreck the recovery

Victor Agarwal

There are many hardworking families across Swindon who are having a tough time with what’s happening in the economy. Things are starting to improve and I don't want a Tory MP to wreck the recovery

Victor Agarwal

There are many hardworking families across Swindon who are having a tough time with what’s happening in the economy. Things are starting to improve and I don't want a Tory MP to wreck the recovery

Victor Agarwal

There are many hardworking families across Swindon who are having a tough time with what’s happening in the economy. Things are starting to improve and I don't want a Tory MP to wreck the recovery

Victor Agarwal

There are many hardworking families across Swindon who are having a tough time with what’s happening in the economy. Things are starting to improve and I don't want a Tory MP to wreck the recovery

Victor Agarwal

There are many hardworking families across Swindon who are having a tough time with what’s happening in the economy. Things are starting to improve and I don't want a Tory MP to wreck the recovery

Victor Agarwal

There are many hardworking families across Swindon who are having a tough time with what’s happening in the economy. Things are starting to improve and I don't want a Tory MP to wreck the recovery

Victor Agarwal

There are many hardworking families across Swindon who are having a tough time with what’s happening in the economy. Things are starting to improve and I don't want a Tory MP to wreck the recovery

Victor Agarwal

There are many hardworking families across Swindon who are having a tough time with what’s happening in the economy. Things are starting to improve and I don't want a Tory MP to wreck the recovery

Victor Agarwal

There are many hardworking families across Swindon who are having a tough time with what’s happening in the economy. Things are starting to improve and I don't want a Tory MP to wreck the recovery

Victor Agarwal

There are many hardworking families across Swindon who are having a tough time with what’s happening in the economy. Things are starting to improve and I don't want a Tory MP to wreck the recovery

Victor Agarwal

There are many hardworking families across Swindon who are having a tough time with what’s happening in the economy. Things are starting to improve and I don't want a Tory MP to wreck the recovery

Victor Agarwal

There are many hardworking families across Swindon who are having a tough time with what’s happening in the economy. Things are starting to improve and I don't want a Tory MP to wreck the recovery

Victor Agarwal

There are many hardworking families across Swindon who are having a tough time with what’s happening in the economy. Things are starting to improve and I don't want a Tory MP to wreck the recovery

Victor Agarwal

There are many hardworking families across Swindon who are having a tough time with what’s happening in the economy. Things are starting to improve and I don't want a Tory MP to wreck the recovery

Victor Agarwal

There are many hardworking families across Swindon who are having a tough time with what’s happening in the economy. Things are starting to improve and I don't want a Tory MP to wreck the recovery

Victor Agarwal

They are vying for the role of north Swindon MP, held for the last 12 years by Michael Wills, who will give up his seat at the next General Election, which could be only 16 weeks away.

Mr Agarwal said: “I intend to be a very hardworking MP.

“There is a lot of respect for Michael, I aim to build on that and then do things in my own style.”

The candidate was decided by an election among North Swindon members of the Labour Party.

Mr Agarwal was elected in the first round of voting, meaning he received more than 50 per cent of the vote.

He will next return to Swindon on Wednesday.

From speaking to constituents, Mr Agarwal identified the future of Dial-a-Ride, and problems with flooding as some of the key issues people were concerned about.

He also said the impact of the recession would be a key issue in the election.

“There are many hardworking families across Swindon who are having a tough time with what’s happening in the economy,” he said.

“Things are starting to improve and I don’t want a Tory MP to wreck the recovery.”

Mr Agarwal has served as first a borough councillor for Spelthorne from 1998 and then as a Surrey county councillor from 2003, leading the Labour group between 2005 and 2009.

He said North Swindon was particularly interesting to him because it has many issues similar to his own area.

Although he does not live in Swindon, Mr Agarwal said he would be visiting the town on an increasingly regular basis in the upcoming months and, if he wins the election, he says he will move to the town.

“That’s my intention, it will be easier,” he said. “As a county councillor if I’m about shopping, constituents can raise issues with me.

“I intend to provide that same service if elected by shopping in the local shops.”

He said since he had started talking to constituents in October, he said he had found Swindon very welcoming.

“Ever since I first came to Swindon that was one of the things I liked,” he said.

“I got such a warm welcome from the beginning, people recognise me already.”

The leader of the Labour group, Coun Derique Montaut, said: “I think he’s an outstanding candidate.

“He’ll build on the work that Michael’s done.

“We’re living in troubled times and there needs to be a voice for Swindon.”

Comments(31)

Billy Jo says...
9:10pm Sun 10 Jan 10

“We’re living in troubled times and there needs to be a voice for Swindon.”
Cllr Montaut should maybe have a little think before speaking.
A voice for Swindon should be a voice FROM Swindon.

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Ms Hallaballo says...
9:43pm Sun 10 Jan 10

maybe Billy Jo needs to do some research... Cllr Montaut has lived in Swindon all his life. And the Labour MP hopeful for North Swindon says he will move here if he wins.

This is no different to the current Labour MPs who moved to Swindon when they won their seats in 1997. And if I recall correctly was the same when Swindon was served by Conservative MPs in the 1980's and 1990's. Michael Ancram was from Scotland and Simon Coombs from Newbury.

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Meldrews Dad says...
9:50pm Sun 10 Jan 10

Is it relevant where he comes from?

He is on to a hiding to nothing anyway!

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TheBlackHand says...
9:55pm Sun 10 Jan 10

Well doneLabour elect somebody who lives in a well off area who couldn't care less for Swindon but is usining Swindon for a career path my votes going to Justin at least you see him out and about

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Billy Jo says...
9:59pm Sun 10 Jan 10

Ms Hallaballo wrote:
maybe Billy Jo needs to do some research... Cllr Montaut has lived in Swindon all his life. And the Labour MP hopeful for North Swindon says he will move here if he wins. This is no different to the current Labour MPs who moved to Swindon when they won their seats in 1997. And if I recall correctly was the same when Swindon was served by Conservative MPs in the 1980's and 1990's. Michael Ancram was from Scotland and Simon Coombs from Newbury.
I am aware that Cllr Montaut was born and lives in Swindon.
And as for the the Labour hopeful I think it's fair to say he won't be breaking out the tea chests just yet.

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mrwoo says...
10:05pm Sun 10 Jan 10

surrey. he won't be getting my vote!

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Trend says...
10:07pm Sun 10 Jan 10

"Although he does not live in Swindon, Mr Agarwal said he would be visiting the town on an increasingly regular basis in the upcoming months and, if he wins the election, he says he will move to the town."
So in other words Swindon is only good enough for him if he wins. No way the numpty is getting my vote! At least Justin Tomlinson is local and knows what is happening in Swindon on a daily basis. And as TBH says you see him out and about.

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chris_p says...
10:08pm Sun 10 Jan 10

Interesting way to big up a CV, leader of a group of 1!

and is this same person who when questioning the Chairman of Surrey
Police Authority thinks the most important and only question to ask is "Does Surrey Police have a Gay, Lesbian,
Bisexual and Transgender society as I understand the Met Police has
and if so how many members does it have?"

http://www.surreypa.
gov.uk/File/SPA%20De
cember%2013/07%20Cha
ir's%20Report.doc

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Itssomewheretowork says...
10:12pm Sun 10 Jan 10

Perhaps Ms hallaballo, needs to do some research herself..." And if I recall correctly was the same when Swindon was served by Conservative MPs in the 1980's and 1990's. Michael Ancram was from Scotland..."
You don't recall correctly, Michael Ancram was the MP for Devizes and at that time the residents of Stratton St. Margaret, were lucky enough to be in the Devizes rather than Swindon constituency.

Does your memory go back to the sixties, the labour MP for Swindon spent most of his time on a Greek island. Mind you I don't think he claimed that as his second home and "house flipping" was in the MP's vocabulary at that time!

That was quite an ironic comment made about MP's coming from Scotland.... let me think where does the PM and the Chancellor of the Exchequor come from!

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I Too says...
10:47pm Sun 10 Jan 10

Will a councillor from Surrey understand the significance of The Mechanics' ? No
.
Will he have heard of the Coate fiasco? No
.
Will he remember the speedway stadium being under threat? No
.
Will he be even remotely interested in Swindon, if he doesn't get elected?
No
.
Will he be on a par with the SBC Chief Exec. that came from Kent?
Probably
.
Will he get my vote?
No chance.
.
Will I vote Conservative instead?
No way
.
None of these people are interested in anything much further than thier own agenda. None of them will take on board the concerns of residents of this town, or strive to preserve what's left of its' proud heritage, or stand up against outside developers.
None of them will strive towards spending the budget, on something that is purely for the benefit of the town (how can paving slabs amount to £4million?)
.
My vote for a smaller part, or an independant candidate, may well seem like a wasted vote, but it's better than giving extra credit, or a landslide victory, to a party that I do not actually believe in.
This goverment has to go, but I'm not going to vote for a lesser of two evils.

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Jock Strap says...
11:01pm Sun 10 Jan 10

Ahhh! selecting a candidate from good British stock eh! Couldn't any reference to that surname in Debretts or Who's who I have to say! -doubtless Victor Agarwal will soon be christened Victor Meldrew!

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Jock Strap says...
11:08pm Sun 10 Jan 10

Vic has got his work cut out - I didn't rate Michael Wills until I had occasion to wtite to him regarding treatment I'd received at GWH - fair play he took up the cudgels and certainly helped my cause even though he 'd never get my vote same as vic won't - the odious ,soon to be unemployed Mrs S could learn a trick or two from MW.

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I Too says...
11:09pm Sun 10 Jan 10

Surely it would become Victor Argyll ?

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Janais is back says...
12:46am Mon 11 Jan 10

A TOTAL STRANGER WANTS TO REPRESENT SWINDON AS A LABOUR MP - Firstly the Tories will win and secondly what an absolute insult from Labour by selecting someone who would only move (?) to Swindon if he won. (how far would he actually move?)

What a joke Swindon has become - the only thing keeping Swindon sane is the football club that the local council refuse to support.

Somebody please do something radical & save this small minded little Town

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Janais is back says...
12:56am Mon 11 Jan 10

..... I will vote for any BNP canidate - so please get one nominated - They have no chance of winning a seat but at least it will produce an opportunity for all of us to demonstrate our strength of feeling towards something we really feel pasionate about - Indigionous Rule

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Popcorn says...
8:04am Mon 11 Jan 10

Another 'Import' for the Labour Party. Do this reflect the respect the Labour Party stalwarts hold their Swindon members. I will not vote for someone who neither lives or cares about the town. We have a prime example of this in Smelgrove. There again after the decimation of my country I will never vote again for Labour. I am looking forward to the Election just to see the Arrogant Brown and the man who is pulling his strings Ed Balls brought down.

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Bobfm says...
9:06am Mon 11 Jan 10

This is indeed a slap in the face for the only local candidate, and a sure sign that Labour knows they've lost already. Sadly they will still receive thousands of votes despite this, rather than it going to other local candidates.

Justin could be in for a landslide.

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Bobfm says...
9:29am Mon 11 Jan 10

Having looked at this guys council website it appears not to have been updated since June 2009 and he was only elected in May.

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Meldrews Dad says...
10:41am Mon 11 Jan 10

Jock Strap, Truss says...
11:01pm Sun 10 Jan 10

Ahhh! selecting a candidate from good British stock eh! Couldn't any reference to that surname in Debretts or Who's who I have to say! -doubtless Victor Agarwal will soon be christened Victor Meldrew!


Sorry Jock Strap - Definitely not related. I want independence so I am voting UKIP

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Meldrews Dad says...
10:41am Mon 11 Jan 10

Jock Strap, Truss says...
11:01pm Sun 10 Jan 10

Ahhh! selecting a candidate from good British stock eh! Couldn't any reference to that surname in Debretts or Who's who I have to say! -doubtless Victor Agarwal will soon be christened Victor Meldrew!


Sorry Jock Strap - Definitely not related. I want independence so I am voting UKIP

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Donkey says...
10:49am Mon 11 Jan 10

Maybe this chap will prove to be someone who can fill Michael Will's shoes admirably? Michael has been an excellent MP for fighting Swindon's and many thousands of constituents corners on so many occasions. Bood luck, Victor, the war is not lost, these people are not a true perception of this Government! Vote the Tories in and you'll have only yourselves to blame ... Crisis, what Crisis?

One can only assume the insults and name making will continue as the election nears, it is childish and futile to decry a democratically elected man, by those who pay their membership to the party in the constituency, and from where here comes from, this is the recognised British way of fairplay for anyone who is hoping to be put forward as a candidate ... GROW UP!

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Donkey says...
10:51am Mon 11 Jan 10

'Good luck, Victor!' ... of course!!!

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Bobfm says...
12:58pm Mon 11 Jan 10

I think Gordon has gazumped SBC's wifi.

http://tinyurl.com/y
d7xd3y

Cynically buying votes.

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Billy Jo says...
1:23pm Mon 11 Jan 10

Bobfm wrote:
I think Gordon has gazumped SBC's wifi. http://tinyurl.com/y d7xd3y Cynically buying votes.
I wonder if these free laptops will be distributed in marginal Labour areas?
Or am I being a little too cynical?

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Captain Sensible says...
3:06pm Mon 11 Jan 10

Sounds like a bliddy foreigner to me!

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Bobfm says...
6:06pm Mon 11 Jan 10

Billy Jo, probably a few in Swindon, but they won't work, the Mess is protected

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Mr Blackwell says...
6:11pm Mon 11 Jan 10

Mr Agarwal appears to be a very strong supporter of wi-fi for residents in his current area of Surrey.
.
Can we take it this means he'll support Swindon's Tory Council proposals for the people of Swindon to have free wi-fi?
.
Maybe he'd like to discuss it with Anne Snelgrove, who opposes the idea (just like she opposes anything the Council does - because, you know, they're 'nasty' Tories).
.
Labour must surely be having a laugh at the expense of the people of North Swindon with this ridiculous selection.
.
Interesting how both Mr Agarwal and Mr Montaut continually harp on about the 'recession' and 'troubled times'... given that it's their beloved leader who helped get us all into this mess.
.
Billy Jo - your cynicism is well placed regarding Gordon Brown's £300 million giveaway of 'free' (er, WE paid for them) laptops and broadband access. It actually gets even worse when you realise that the broadband payment ends after 12 months - so, those low income families that 'can't afford' it now are going to be able to afford it in a year's time, how, exactly?
.
Of course, it's been staged that way so that the Tories have to continue paying for it all in a year's time or risk looking 'nasty' compared to good old 'chuck the cash around' Brown.
.
Trouble is, Mr Brown doesn't seem to realise there is no more money for him to throw around like confetti.
.
Anyway, expect the second-hand market for unused laptops to drop through the floor in a few months time as these taxpayer funded laptops get sold on down the pub and at car boots sales.
.
Another ridiculous waste of time and money by the increasingly deluded Labour government.

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Bobfm says...
6:24pm Mon 11 Jan 10

Mr Blackwell, oh how cynical. At least they will have something to trade for their next fix.

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Jo-Ent says...
1:14am Tue 12 Jan 10

The sad thing is, there's thousands of hard-core Labour voters in North Swindon who will vote for this bloke anyway, regardless of the fact that he's clearly the worst applicant for a job since Dracula applied for the vacancy at the blood donor clinic.

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Grimwald says...
9:35am Tue 12 Jan 10

Interesting that Victor Agarwal actually supports Wi-Fi! Does that mean he will enter into a Con-Lab pack with Rod? That has a nice ring to it!! After all back is white and white is black now and none of us knows what the hell anything is or stands for now.
Bring back Winston, now there was a man who knew exactly what he was doing and actually believed in it. With current politicians you just don't know and for that matter neither do they.

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abbotboy says...
4:53pm Sun 17 Jan 10

Ask him if he approves of the ban on children being spanked in school or at least those who are British\English, ask him what is his partygoing to do about the 1 trillion pound national debt, ask him if elected will he vote for the interests of the people of Swindon, or is he going to tobe mark 3 lobby fodder and even then refuse to sign early day motions

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