LABOUR has selected the person they hope will be the next MP for Maidstone and The Weald.

Dr Rav Seeruthun, a GP who has worked in Maidstone for 10 years and lives in the town, has been picked as the party’s prospective parliamentary candidate for the seat held by Ann Widdecombe since 1987.

He is the first Labour candidate from an ethnic background to contest the seat.

Dr Seeruthun, 34, marked his selection by firing a broadside at plans to downgrade Maidstone’s accident and emergency services, saying they were “madness".

“We are not against change but these need to be in the best interests of the patients. Having worked there and seen how busy the department is, it is madness to say that by downgrading the department lives will not be put at risk given the dreadful road links to Tunbridge Wells,” he said.

Dr Seeruthun who was born and brought up in Redhill, Surrey, has worked as as a GP in several local practices. He has also had a spell as a casualty officer in Maidstone’s Accident and Emergency department.

He is on secondment from his GP work, carying out research in the field of long-acting contraceptives and teenage pregnancy.

A keen hockey player, he has played for Maidstone Hockey Club for seven years.

* At the last election in 2005, Ann Widdecombe held her seat with an increased majority of nearly 15,000. Although she has signalled that she intends to stand down, it is understood that if a snap election is held she has agreed to contest a sixth general election.