Greens select campaigning mum to join the fight in Forth

THE Green Party has chosen local campaigner Kate Joester as its candidate for next month's Forth ward council by-election.

Ms Joester is a community health worker and mother of two small children, who lives in Wardie. She is a long-standing campaigner on poverty and environment issues and has been involved in the fight against Lothian Buses' ban on prams.

The by-election will be on November 6 and follows the death of Labour councillor Elizabeth Maginnis last month.

Ms Joester said: "This is the area I live in. It's a really diverse place, with some of the most deprived parts of Edinburgh alongside some of the more comfortable. It's also an area that is seeing very rapid development, without matching improvements in transport and other services.

"I'll be campaigning for better public transport, support for local shops and businesses, and a strong, safe and sustainable Forth ward."

Labour has chosen youth worker Cammy Day as its candidate, with Royston/Wardieburn community councillor George Gordon standing for the SNP.

The Lib Dem candidate is university research manager Sanne Dijkstra-Dowie and the Tories will be represented by employment agency director Iain McGill.