A FORMER Radcliffe councillor has been selected as the Labour parliamentary candidate for Berwick upon Tweed.

Dr Catherine Preston sat on Bury Council as ward councillor for Radcliffe East for four years, as well as being appointed deputy cabinet member for health and wellbeing.

She stood down in Bury ahead of May’s local election, instead standing in St Boisil, which she took.

James Mason of newly formed political party Radcliffe First took Radcliffe East by a slim 66 votes over Labour’s candidate Evelyn Doyle.

After living in Prestwich for 25 years, Catherine, her partner Andrew and her mother Pam Dugdale moved to Tweedmouth earlier this year.

Dr Preston said: “It was a very tough decision to resign as a councillor for Radcliffe East. I was proud to represent the ward for four years and I hope I justified the faith of the community when they voted for me and the Labour Party."

It has now been announced that Mrs Preston has been shortlisted as a parliamentary candidate — promising the people of Berwick upon Tweed that she is “for the many, not the few”.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan is the current Conservative MP for Berwick upon Tweed.

Dr Preston said: "I am shortlisted as a candidate to contest the Berwick upon Tweed constituency. Labour’s never won this seat so it will be a challenge should I get selected. However, as everyone who knew me in Bury, I've never been afraid of hard work when it comes to campaigning and representing people."

Mrs Preston is a music educationalist and music hub adviser, who was formerly a director of music and a school governor at Philips High School in Whitefield.

A regional representative for Music Mark, the recently formed UK Association for Music Education, she was also a champion for the ‘I Will If You Will’ fitness initiative for women and girls in Bury.