Chesham & Amersham: Rupa Huq (Labour)

3:33pm Monday 25th April 2005

Rupa Huq, 33, is a married mother of 12-month- old son Rafi. She stood as Labour candidate in the 2004 European elections.

Rupa graduated from Cambridge and is a university lecturer. She has been researcher to Tony Banks and Patricia Hewitt and worked in the European Parliament.

A further aspect of Rupa's CV that makes her more interesting than your average politician is the fact that she has had a parallel career as a DJ who once recorded a jingle for the late John Peel in Bengali.

Rupa has claimed, "I joined Labour after witnessing the disastrous effects of Thatcherism, determined to make a difference.

"This election is about a choice between Chesham and Amersham moving forward under Labour to build on the past eight year's achievements or back to the failed policies of the Tory past."

She identifies public services, affordable housing stock and commuter links to London among local issues that she has encountered on the doorstep.

"Politics needs the involvement of real people doing real jobs with their feet firmly on the ground from all walks of life who are committed to making a difference. Since 1997 no seat is safe we've seen a string of Tory bastions fall to Labour. Why not Chesham and Amersham in 2005?"