A COMMUNITY fundraiser and town councillor has been selected to stand for the Newtown Conservative seat in the forthcoming by-election in Copeland.

Following the loss of Copeland Conservative councillor Ray Cole in April, Millom town councillor, Ged McGrath has been selected to stand as the Conservative candidate for Millom Newtown in Copeland Borough Council's by-election on June 8.

As former sub-post master of Millom Post Office, Cllr McGrath is well known within the town and recently took up the position of Constituency Office Manager for Trudy Harrison, the Conservative parliamentary candidate for Copeland.

Along with leading the community project to reinstate the town clock in Millom Town Square, Cllr McGrath is also managing the group, Friends of Millom War Memorial which is aiming to refurbish Millom’s First World War memorial ahead of the centenary of the end of the Great War next year.

Cllr McGrath, said: “I am honoured to have been selected to fill the seat left by the sad loss of Ray Cole.

"Ray sat next to me on the Millom Town Council meetings and was always a great source of knowledge and inspiration to both myself and fellow councillors. He is sorely missed.”