A father of two who failed to become Sussex’s new police and crime commissioner is standing to become MP in Eastbourne.

Paul Richards, who lives in the Old Town of Eastbourne, has been chosen as the Labour and Co-operative candidate in the forthcoming General Election.

The 56-year-old was recently the Labour and Co-operative candidate for Sussex's police and crime commissioner (PCC), where he came second to Conservative candidate Katy Bourne.

Mr Richards was previously chairman of the East Sussex Co-operative Party. His pledges include more police on Eastbourne’s high streets and estates, scrapping business rates for struggling local firms, action on sewage in our seas, more teachers in Eastbourne paid for by scrapping tax breaks on fee-paying schools, a cut to NHS waiting times, more support for mental health services and votes for every 16 and 17-year-old.

 “I love Eastbourne but we all know it could be so much better,” he said.

“We need safe streets, thriving businesses, clean seas, affordable homes and world-class schools and hospitals. We need support for our pensioners, with dignity for every vulnerable person. The country is crying out for change. Today’s modern Labour Party is the change the country needs right now. On July 4, we can start to turn the page.”

Mr Richards works as a speechwriter for senior public figures and as a political pundit on radio and television.

He has also written four books.

He served as a special adviser to the previous Labour government in three departments including the Department for Health, where he was instrumental in introducing the smoking ban.

Mr Richards was a policy adviser to the shadow secretary of state for environmental protection in 1991 and 1992 and worked for Labour HQ during the 1992 election campaign. He is a former chairman of the Fabian Society, a think-tank devising policies to improve Britain, and serves on the executive committee.