A PARLIAMENTARY hopeful is planning to make a stand that could see her emulate Blackburn MP Jack Straw's famous soap box speeches.

Kitty Ussher, picked to replace retiring MP Peter Pike as the Labour candidate at the next general election, said she wants to model herself on the Foreign Secretary in order to win over voters.

And Mr Straw gave her his backing when he heard about her plan.

Ms Ussher claims she needs to work harder than local candidates because she hails from outside the borough, just like Essex lad Jack Straw, who was first elected to Blackburn in 1979.

Mr Straw's question and answer sessions, which he conducts standing on top of a wooden soap box, have won him support and single him out from other MPs.

As well as hailing from outside the red rose county both Mr Straw and Ms Ussher have also served as councillors in a London borough.

The parallels between the two have not gone unnoticed by Ms Ussher who said she has lots to learn from Blackburn's MP before she tries to become Burnley's.

"I know that in some ways I'm an outsider and so was Jack when he arrived in Blackburn," she said. "That means I might have to work harder than the candidates with a local background.

"It also means I have to reach more people. I know that Mr Straw is very popular in Blackburn because of the way he gets out to talk to people and I want to do the same."

Ms Ussher was picked by local party activists in Burnley after Labour bosses decided the list of candidates to replace Mr Pike should be women only.

She beat off competition including Mr Pike's daughter Jane, Burnley councillor Carole Galbraith and trade union boss Debbie Brannan.

Mr Straw admitted that being an "outsider" made life more difficult for any election candidate.

But he said: "I don't know Kitty that well but I have heard some good things about her. She has worked with Patricia Hewitt which means she has some good connections.

"I'm flattered to hear she wants to copy my style."