Hertford and Stortford Labour spokesman Josh Dean launches campaign to be party’s choice for MP

Hertford and Stortford Labour’s parliamentary spokesman is vying to become the party’s constituency candidate at the next General Election.

Josh Dean, 24, won a seat on Hertford Town Council in May, just missing out on an East Herts Council spot, and now wants to battle Conservative MP Julie Marson for a seat in the House of Commons.

The constituency party was given the go-ahead only this month to begin the candidate selection process. Nominations will close at the end of the year.

The Indie understands that if the long list, short list and final selection process plays out, a final decision is unlikely before the end of January, but there is provision for a shortl ist of one, depending on the number of names put forward. In 2019, six would-be MPs took part.

As he launched his campaign, Mr Dean said: “I joined the Labour Party because I genuinely believe in politics as a force for good. I don’t just want better for our community; I have a vision to deliver it. I’ve taken the fight to the Tories before and won, and I know I can do it again.”

He was the Labour candidate for the Hertford St Andrews division in the 2021 Hertfordshire County Council elections, increasing the party’s vote share by 15.8 percentage points and coming within 170 votes of winning.

His local credentials are key: “Hertford and Stortford is my home and my life has been shaped by our community.

“When I dropped out of sixth form at 17, it was our local youth workers and young people’s organisations that helped to show me I could turn my life around and make a difference for others too.”

Mr Dean attended Richard Hale School in Hertford. He now studies politics and international relations at the University of Westminster and is due to graduate next year.

He said: “After 13 years of Tory government, many young people in the same position today won’t have access to the same support or opportunities that I had and find the path that’s right for them. I’m determined to see this reversed.

“In 2023, it’s not just young people worrying about the future. When I go out and speak to people in our community, they often share the same belief: Britain is broken.

“Our residents deserve better than a Tory government that’s left our country in decline and an absentee Tory MP with no real connection to our community. Labour is ready to deliver the change that Britain needs and a Labour MP for Hertford and Stortford.”

His priorities are tackling the cost-of-living crisis, championing the NHS, addressing climate and ecological breakdown, supporting young people and delivering a “real local MP for our community”.

“I will give our community the local representation it has been sorely lacking under the Tories,” he said. “Unlike our current MP, I will proudly open my constituency office in Hertford and Stortford, hold accessible roving surgeries for residents across our area and make my home in our community.

“The next election will be our best chance to elect a Labour MP in our constituency in a generation. With a strong local candidate, I know we can do it. That’s why I’m standing to be Labour’s candidate in Hertford and Stortford.”

Mr Dean, who was elected as a youth representative on the Labour east regional executive committee in November 2021, completed Labour’s Future Candidates Programme last year.

He has already won the backing of the Labour candidate for Hertford and Stortford in the December 2019 General Election, teacher and Harlow councillor Chris Vince.

Mr Vince will contest the Harlow constituency next year and said: “I’m delighted to endorse Josh to be the next Labour candidate and the first Labour MP for Hertford and Stortford.

“When I was the Labour candidate in the constituency in 2019, Josh was an integral part of my campaign, campaigning every week, come rain or shine. Since then, he has continued to campaign hard across the constituency, listening to residents and, as a town councillor, helping them with those issues whenever he can.

“I can think of nobody better than Josh to stand for Labour in Hertford and Stortford at the next General Election and win this seat for Labour.”

Four years ago, Mr Vince came second to Julie Marson with Liberal Democrat Chris Lucas, a college lecturer, third.

Some pollsters have predicted Labour could take Hertford and Stortford next time, but the party has included the constituency on its list of 211 ‘non-battleground’ seats.

Labour’s candidate will face Lib Dem Helen Campbell, a Hertfordshire County Council member for St Albans North, and Green Party Cllr Nick Cox, an East Herts Council member for Ware Trinity and a Stanstead St Margarets parish councillor.

Mrs Marson had to turn to rank-and-file Tories to secure her chance to stand again while Reform UK has listed former Sawbridgeworth town councillor and mayor John Burmicz as its contender.

Hertford and Stortford has been held by the Conservatives since its creation in 1983. Mrs Marson was preceded by Mark Prisk and Bowen Wells, both of whom served for 18 years.