General election 2024: Labour announce candidate hoping to keep Halifax for the party when town goes to the polls after Holly Lynch steps down

She will fight to become the constituency’s MP following a selection brought about by party colleague Holly Lynch, who has been in the seat since 2015, deciding to step down at this election.

Ms Dearden was born and raised in Bingley and currently lives in Leeds.

She says she has fond memories of visiting Halifax over the years, first as a child to Eureka! Children’s Museum to more recently attending concerts at The Piece Hall.

She says she became interested in politics as a teenager when her dad was a trade union representative, and she started working with charities to support pregnant women and prevent infant and maternal mortality in Africa.

After graduating from Edinburgh University, she briefly worked for the Labour Party before joining Community Trade Union where she has been since – representing steelworkers, prison officers, teachers and the self-employed.

If elected, Ms Dearden says she will continue trying to help others, defending their rights as working people, putting the people of Halifax first and ensuring they have an MP always ready to fight their corner.

She said: “It would be an honour to represent the people of Halifax.

“I’ve spent my career standing up for working people and, as MP for Halifax, I’ll be a champion for every person in this town.

“My priorities will be to fix our public transport system by finally electrifying the Calder Valley line and taking back public control of our bus services.

“I’ll work with the people of Halifax to protect our beautiful environment from flooding, landslides, and incinerators.

“I’ll campaign alongside you to put a stop to rising anti-social behaviour.

“Crucially, I’ll work to ensure Labour’s plan to clear the NHS backlog and make GPs accessible again is delivered for the people of Halifax.”

The other people standing in the Halifax constituency are James Samuel Laugharne Griffith-Jones (Reform UK); Martin Hey (Green Party); Perveen Hussain (Independent); Samuel Jackson (Liberal Democrat); Shakir Saghir (Workers Party of Britain) and Hazel Sharp (Conservative).