A Conservative councillor from Woodley has been selected as an MP candidate for her party in an area of London.

Councillor Laura Blumenthal, who sits on Wokingham Borough Council, has been chosen as the Conservative candidate for the Brentford and Isleworth parliamentary constituency in west London.

She currently represents the South Lake ward on the borough council, which covers neighbourhoods surrounding its eponymous lake in Woodley.

Celebrating her selection, Cllr Blumenthal said: "I'm looking forward to the challenge of contesting a parliamentary seat and am thankful to all the well wishes I've received from residents in South Lake ward.

"I'll continue to work hard for them on the council."

She has been selected ahead of the next general election, which is predicted to be held this year.

Cllr Blumenthal is of German Jewish descent, and last year spoke out against the 'climate of silence' over threats to British Jews after the Islamic militant group Hamas invaded southern Israel on 7 October, and the escalating violence in the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Police data on anti-semetic hate incidents in 2023 (credit: Community Security Trust).

According to police statistics compiled by the Community Security Trust, there were 47 anti-semitic hate incidents reported to Thames Valley Police in 2023.

Cllr Blumenthal's grandfather fled to the Reading area from Nazi Germany in the 1930s.

The Brentford and Isleworth seat in the London Borough of Hounslow is currently held by Labour's Ruth Cadbury, who has been the MP there since 2015.

The seat is also being contested by Kuldev Sehra, a Liberal Democrat councillor for Whitton at the London Borough of Richmond.

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