At a packed meeting last night, local Conservatives selected Peter Forrest as their candidate to fight the Enfield-Haringey GLA seat in May 2004.

Mr Forrest was also the candidate in May 2000 when, against all the odds, Conservatives narrowly failed to win the seat by only 3,000 votes. Given the Conservative landslide in the Enfield Council elections in May 2002 and the haemorrhaging of the Labour vote in Haringey, Conservatives are predicting that they will take the GLA seat from Labour in 2004.

Said Conservative candidate Peter Forrest:

"I am delighted to have been re-adopted to fight this seat in 2004. By my re-adoption Conservatives are showing that they are keeping faith with the voters. By contrast, neither Labour nor the Liberal Democrat Party is fielding the same candidates as last time. They have 'cut and run', having seen the writing on the wall.

I have lived in the constituency for nearly 20 years and know its problems first hand. I shall be campaigning hard on the local issues which are important to local people: rising crime, failing public transport, and threats to our green belt."

ENDS
Notes to Editors:
1. Peter Forrest is 52. He & his wife Daphne live in Highgate, north London
2. Peter was a Councillor on Haringey Council 1994-2002 and Conservative Group Leader on the Council for that period. He was also a Board Member of the London Fire & Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA) 2000-2002
3. His interests include: mountain walking, skiing, cooking and motoring.