Jayne Kirkham, who fought the Parliamentary seat of Truro and Falmouth in May, has been chosen by the local Labour party to stand in next year's by-election which will determine who will fill the vacancy on Cornwall Council created by the sudden death of Candy Atherton in October.

At a meeting of Smithick’s Labour members, Jayne was selected to fight the Cornwall Council seat at the coming by election, to be held February 1. A vacancy also exists on Falmouth Town Council, but it is not yet known who will contest this seat.

Jayne said: “I want to focus on Smithick and Falmouth. There are huge issues facing the town: we need to get the neighbourhood plan through, to protect from unwanted development, work with the university to make Falmouth work for local people and students and there are places in the ward, such as the Bowling Green and Kimberley Park, where local residents want to see improvements.”

Jude Robinson, who is currently a Falmouth Town councillor for Smithick, said: "I am delighted. Jayne will be a great advocate for this area and for Falmouth. No-one can replace Candy but she worked closely with Jayne and I am sure she would be pleased to know that Jayne is now determined to continue the work for local people.”

Jayne achieved an 11.5 per cent swing to Labour in the General Election, the highest swing in the country that did not lead to a Labour MP, and the Truro and Falmouth seat is expected to be a target for Labour at the next election.

A former employment rights lawyer, Jayne now works at a local school and lives in Falmouth with her young son.