Lib Dem candidate for Worcester revealed

Businesswoman Jackie Alderson will do battle at the ballot box with the city’s current MP Mike Foster, Labour, and prospective parliamentary candidates Robin Walker, Conservative; Louis Stephen, Green Party; Jack Bennett, UKIP; independents Andrew Christian-Brookes and Peter Nielsen.

The general election is widely expected to take place on Thursday, May 6.

Ms Alderson, who owns Droitwich-based marketing consultancy Optimum PR, has lived in the county for 20 years and has a 16-year-old son, Alex, who goes to school in Worcester.

Ms Alderson said: "I am delighted to have been chosen to represent the Liberal Democrats in Worcester.

“I’m looking forward to meeting and listening to people as our campaign gathers momentum.

“This is a fantastic city, but there is much more that must be done to represent local people and improve the lives of everyone in our community.

"For too long, communities like ours have been overlooked while government funding and focus is fixed on urban areas like Birmingham. We need radical change, and we need people to believe that their vote can make a difference."

Ms Alderson was born in Birmingham and graduated from Liverpool University in 1984 with a degree in psychology and history. She also has a diploma in marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing.

She is a former regional director of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (West Midlands).

Alex Kear, chairman of Worcester Liberal Democrats, said: "In Jackie, the Liberal Democrats have a strong, local candidate with a business background – someone who has worked hard all her life to build a career and raise a family as a working parent.

“I know that she feels passionately about injustice, the plight of families hit hard by the recession, and the future of our public services. She is exactly what Worcester needs."