Local trans Lib Dem candidate to be announced today

Trans Wiltshire councillor Helen Belcher is to be announced as the Liberal Democrat candidate for the next general election in Reading West and Mid Berks.

Helen Belcher is a director of Transactual and trustee of Trans Media Watch, and was recognised in the New Year Honours list with an OBE.

She is the latest of several people who have been honoured over their work for the trans community in recent years, including actress and campaigner April Ashley, Northern Ireland trans firefighter Karen McDowell and political activist Christine Burns.

The new constituency created by boundary commission changes sees part of Newbury MP Laura Farris’s current patch and part of the outgoing Alok Sharma’s area forming the new seat.