Oldham East shortlist announced

By Mark Ferguson / @markfergusonuk

The Labour shortlist for Oldham East is Abdul Jabbar, Riaz Ahmed and Debbie Abrahams, which will come as a surprise to many, as it omits early frontrunners Afzal Khan and Josh MacAlister.

Debbie Abrahams

Debbie was the Labour candidate for Colne Valley at the 2010 general election where she finished third. SHe has a background in health and currently conducts Public Health work at the University of Liverpool. She is recognised as a world expert in Health Impact Assessment. She is also the former chair of Rochdale PCT.

Riaz Ahmed

Riaz is a former Labour councillor and former Mayor of Oldham. He’s currently the Chair of NHS Oldham. He was also an MEP candidate for Labour in 2009.

Abdul Jabbar

Councillor Abdul Jabbar is a councillor for Coldhurst ward on Oldham Council, where is shadows the Performance and Value for Money portfolio. He’s also a former Mayor of the borough.

We’ll bring you more news on the selection, and the result, as soon as we have it.