The Manx Labour Party has unveiled three candidates for the September general election.
Richard Halsall will be standing in Douglas East, Carol Quine will contest the new combined seat of Castletown, Arbory and Malew, and Lynn Sirdefield has put her name forward for Douglas North.
The three candidates were announced last Thursday evening at a Manx Labour Party meeting held at the South Douglas Old Friends’ Association Club, when the party’s 2016 policy document was also unveiled.
MLP chairman David Cretney MLC praised the three for their introductory speeches: ‘There’s more hard work ahead but we already have three caring, dedicated candidates who will stand up and be counted with your support.’
Mr Halsall, 53, was born in the island and was educated at Ramsey Grammar School. He has spent most of his career working at the Curraghs Wildlife Park, initially as a keeper and then progressing to head keeper and collection manager.
He is standing in Douglas East where has lived with his partner Kirsty since 1999, and is a constituency which is at the heart of the Manx tourism sector.
Ms Quine, 55, is Manx born and a life-long Castletown resident. She is the mother of three grown up daughters and has three grandchildren.
Shw has put her 16 years organisational and administration experience gained as a civil servant to good use with her involvement in a wide range of community events and projects.
These include forming the Friends of Castletown Railway Station, organising the annual Hop-tu-Naa party, 1940s dances and bringing forward the tinsel town event. She is a Castletown commissioner and served for 12 years as a special constable - a role she had to resign from to stand.
Manx-born Mrs Sirdefield and her husband Trevor run a scaffold company, and she says caring for a daughter with special needs has ensured her priority has always been her family. She added the challenges this brought has given her a passion to help those in similar situations and has led her to become a volunteer for Epilepsy Action and have active involvement in the Mental Health Carers Group.