Local elections: Edwina Currie eyes return to politics

Edwina Currie said her nomination was both "exciting and scary"

Former MP Edwina Currie has announced she hopes to return to politics at May's local council elections.

Mrs Currie, who for 14 years was Conservative MP for South Derbyshire, is standing for election as a county councillor in Whaley Bridge.

Inspired by the recent US elections she said she didn't want to spend the next decade watching TV and "getting fat".

She will be running against former High Peak MP Ruth George, who became a ward councillor at a by-election last year.

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Mrs Currie has lived in the Derbyshire town for nine years and was one of many residents evacuated from their homes in 2019 over fears a reservoir wall could collapse.

She left politics in 1997 and said she only considered returning after her husband John died in November.

"He was quite poorly in 2020 and needed 110% of my time and attention," the 74-year-old said.

"A few days after he died, I was watching the American election and the people involved were both older than me.

"Joe Biden has been an absolute hero. He has come out of retirement to fight and did it with grace and dignity.

"And I thought, 'I really don't want to spend the next 10 years watching Netflix and getting fat'."

Mrs Currie was a Birmingham councillor for 11 years and served as junior health minister for two years.

Following her retirement, she has appeared on TV programmes including Strictly Come Dancing and I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!

'Shouldn't be ignored'

She said: "In the High Peak we have 10,000 people aged 75 plus, who like me, are living alone, with some problems or disabilities, but most are fit and well and actively contributing to community life.

"They have weathered this terrible pandemic, in many ways, better than other generations. I don't think our age means we should be forgotten or ignored."

She said the prospect of standing again was "exciting and scary".

She said, if successful, she wanted to focus on having more eco-friendly vehicles and charging points in Derbyshire, and helping local businesses recover from the pandemic.

Councillor and former High Peak MP Ruth George will stand against Mrs Currie

Ruth George, currently a Labour councillor for Whaley Bridge, will stand for re-election against Mrs Currie.

"I have absolutely loved it and it has been great just to be able to get stuck into local issues and actively help with things," she said.

"It's just really nice to be that trusted person that people can turn to for help and support."

In a year, she said she has helped prevent a care home closure and school bus cuts, and set up the area's first food bank.

She added that it was "very different being a local councillor to being an MP".

"You really have to get stuck in and get your hands dirty," she said. "You are having to fight for the things like new drains to be put in and deal with local issues that impact people's lives."

Analysis: Tony Roe, BBC East Midlands Today political editor

Edwina Currie has never been one to shun the limelight.

I was in the newsroom at BBC Radio Derby in 1985 when she was MP for South Derbyshire. She would go out of her way to actually come into the building at weekends to react to events - sometimes in her tracksuit.

When she became junior health minister in 1986, she still recognised the importance of talking to us on local radio but of course she now had a profile nationally and used it. Spitting Image made a puppet of her which was a measure of her fame.

That the self-defined writer, broadcaster, politician and celebrity speaker is contemplating returning to the political fray as a Derbyshire county councillor has certainly raised the profile of the local elections.

That she should be up against another former MP in Labour's Ruth George raises the stakes even more. Neither can go knocking on doors because of Covid restrictions, which means it will be a contest fought out in the media.

Party loyalties usually decide elections more than personalities, so it will be intriguing to see what happens in May. Both candidates know being well-known doesn't guarantee success.

At May's local and mayoral elections in England, voters will be asked to wear face masks and bring their own pens.

Derbyshire County Council said the full list of candidates was currently unknown but nominations could be made until April.

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