Patriotic Socialists have candidate

Batley and Spen's Patriotic Socialists PPC Karl Varley.

Karl Varley, of Rhode Street, Liversedge, will be in the running for the district’s seat on May 7.

Main policies of the year-old party include withdrawal from the European Union, increasing jobs and apprenticeships for young people, grants for small businesses to help with that and the abolition of the Monarchy.

If elected, the 18-year-old has also vowed to donate 60 per cent of his MP salary to projects in the area.

Mr Varley said: “At the moment, my main focus is raising the profile of the party.

“We are not expecting to win, I just want people to be aware we are here. We want to make a genuine difference.”

A former Labour supporter, Mr Varley feels he is equipped for the role of MP partly because of his volunteering efforts after a period of homelessness. “Batley is kind of a poor area. I’ve been in that situation and I want to give something back to the local area,” he said.