I REFER to the letter from Nick Love’s letter of February 18 about Rachel Maskell, York Central’s Prospective Parliamentary Candidate (PPC) for Labour and the question of living locally.

Local Labour Party members chose the person they believe will best represent York at both local and national level, and all the candidates were of a high order.

They did not have their candidate parachuted in from above, unlike the 2010 Tory PPC, Susan Wade Weeks, who also “lived” in York during the run-up to the election and has never been seen or heard of since.

So while Mr Love tries to ingratiate himself as a worthy candidate simply because he already lives in York, there is in fact nothing new or unusual about candidates choosing to be elected in places they have not previously lived. It happens everywhere and all political parties do it.

It should be pointed out that Hugh Bayley did not live in York prior to becoming the PPC. He has stayed and represented York as an MP for 22 years and that is what Rachel will do when she is elected.

Fiona Samuel, Hobgate, York.