[Gayle]

I was sort of hoping that's what this thread would prompt - all the candidates to say hello.

The fact is that the decision which candidate to choose is made by members of the Labour party in Hyndburn (as it happens I'm not one of those so I'm not sure why I got the letter). Anyway, I thought it might be interesting for us to have the debate about who we want to represent us. That could, in turn, influence other members or help them clarify who they believe should represent us i.e. the person we believe would get the most votes.

This shouldn't have turned into a Labour v Conservative argument - it was about the Labour candidate. Someone should start another one to discuss the merits of the prospective Conservative candidates.