Three Labour candidates vie to take on Caroline Lucas in Brighton Pavilion

Three women are in the running to be the Labour Party candidate in Brighton Pavilion at the next general election.

One of the three women will take on Green MP Caroline Lucas at the election which is expected to be held in May 2015.

The three are

• Kusum Parashar – a retired college lecturer in adult and further education who once stood as a Conservative Party council candidate in London
• Purna Sen – the deputy director of the Institute of Public Affairs at the London School of Economics and a local party activist in Brighton
• Anne Marie Waters – a lawyer who grew up in Dublin and lives in South London

The candidate will be chosen from an all-women shortlist and local activists are being invited to meet the contenders informally on Saturday (25 May) at the Friends Meeting House in Brighton.

They will have another chance to meet the three women on Saturday at the Hollingdean Community Centre in Thompson Road.

The formal nomination procedure is due to open on Monday 27 May and close on Friday 21 June.

Hustings will be held shortly afterwards to choose the party’s candidate for the seat.

The Green Party has already reselected Dr Lucas while the Conservatives have yet to start the process of choosing their candidate for Brighton Pavilion.