THE CAMPAIGN to get the Labour Party’s representative elected as the Member of Parliament for the Stroud district in 2015 has got underway.

Around 150 people came through the door of Stonehouse Community Centre on Sunday, July 27 to pledge their support for David Drew.

Stroud Labour chairman, Dick Dreenslade, said there was a lot of support for the former teacher and vice-chairman of Forest Green Rovers FC.

“So many people said to me, ‘We need David back’,” he said.

“We collected a large number of promises of support and help from everyone who turned up.

“We’re building a great team who will be working their socks off to elect David, because they want an MP who is working for the Stroud area at Westminster, instead of an MP who only represents Westminster’s views down to us.”

Mr Greenslade said that David continues to get calls from members of the public who still turn to him when they need help with issues from housing problems to tax credits - even though David has not been a MP for four years.

“Local people know how hard David worked for individuals and local organisations, how he stood up for us here and wasn’t afraid to stick his head above the parapet if local interests meant disagreeing with national policy from time to time,” said Mr Greenslade.

“That loyalty to the people he represented, that habit of going the extra mile, of knowing what was going on because he turned up to events and meetings all that is still missed and the message came over to us loud and clear on Sunday.”

The 62-year-old father of four was the MP for the district from 1997 until 2010, losing out narrowly to Conservative candidate Neil Carmichael.

The constituency is expected to tough battleground, with both parties listing it as a priority in the General Election next year.