Tragic Sargeant’s son aims for dad’s seat in Assembly
CARL Sargeant’s son has announced he is bidding to succeed his late father as the Assembly Member for Alyn and Deeside.
Jack Sargeant, 23, is to apply to be the Labour candidate for the byelection on February 6, which has been called following his father’s death at home four days after he was sacked from the Welsh Government cabinet amid allegations of inappropriate behaviour towards women.
Jack said he wanted to carry on his father’s legacy.
The former Connah’s Quay High School pupil said: “I’m standing to be a champion for our local community. They’ve stood with my family in difficult times and I want to repay them for their support and build on the hard work my dad did.
“My dad was a local lad from Connah’s Quay and never lost his roots. That’s why people in Alyn and Deeside loved him and why we loved him. I grew up knowing how much he cared about his home and the people who live here and I want to carry on his legacy – keep delivering on the things he cared about.”
The local Labour Party has previously insisted it would not accept a national candidate being parachuted in.
Shelley Streeter, the constituency party secretary, indicated to the Wrexham Leader on Friday that there were “three or four” potential candidates.
She said: “It’s going to be someone who is ‘Carl-like’ and can carry on the great work he did. We won’t have someone foisted on us.”
She said there would be an open shortlist.
It has emerged that the Labour Party ignored its own policy on handling allegations about sexual harassment, and used a wideranging power to suspend members when it imposed an administrative suspension on Carl Sargeant without taking written statements on the allegations against him.
His son Jack said he would be a loyal Labour servant to the area he had grown up in.
He said: “I grew up here, went to school here, got my engineering apprenticeship here at our local college and then went to the local university down the road in Wrexham. I never expected to be going into public life.
“I studied engineering, not law or politics, but I think I can bring real-world experience into the Welsh Assembly – and I think the Assembly needs that.
“I know what people in Alyn and Deeside are thinking and feeling. They’ve been hit by austerity that has forced down real wages and made it tough for people struggling to make ends meet.
“I’ve been lucky enough to work for a local business in the engineering sector – the kind of company that helps build prosperity for local economies.
“I want to make a difference, like my dad did. I’m a loyal Labour member.
“I’ll be my own man. I have my own principles and values. They’re Labour values – standing up for ordinary, hardworking people.”