Jodie Gosling announced as Nuneaton's Labour candidate

Nursery manager and teacher Jodie Gosling has been a councillor since 2016

Jodie Gosling has been announced as the Labour Party parliamentary candidate for Nuneaton in Warwickshire.

The 52-year-old was picked ahead of tech firm director Daniel Shearer and several councillors in a vote of Labour members.

Ms Gosling, leader of the Labour group on North Warwickshire Borough Council, has been a councillor since 2016.

The Nuneaton seat has been held by Conservative MP Marcus Jones since 2010.

In a statement Ms Gosling said it was an "absolute honour" to have been selected to represent her hometown.

"I'm embedded in this community and I've been working for our local residents for years," she added.

"I'll continue to listen to residents and be a strong voice in Parliament and deliver for Nuneaton and the villages to give us our future back."

Marcus Jones was elected Conservative MP for Nuneaton in May 2010

Mr Jones retained the seat with a majority of 13,144 at the last general election in 2019 and was adopted as the party's candidate for the next general election last year.

Nuneaton has historically been a bellwether seat, meaning the constituency often votes for MPs from the party that wins general elections.

It's the kind of constituency Labour will be hoping to win back to secure a majority at the next election.

All-out elections at Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council in May will indicate the mood.

In her campaign pitch to Labour members, Ms Gosling said she had a proven record for delivering positive change.

"Nuneaton needs excellent public services, good jobs, fair pay and decent housing to lift families out of poverty and ill-health," she added.

"We need more opportunities to thrive and to end the heartbreak of residents dying on waiting lists and hardworking families needing charity to feed their children."

Nuneaton Labour said Ms Gosling - a nursery manager, a teacher and a former civil servant - would be "a great asset to Nuneaton".

Ms Gosling joins Rob Howard, who has been selected to represent Reform UK, and the Green Party's parliamentary candidate Keith Kondakor. The Conservative Party has adopted Mr Jones as its candidate for the seat at the next general election.