Paul Uppal hopes to be Conservative candidate for key Wolverhampton South West seat
Paul Uppal will try to win back the seat he lost to Labour two years ago for the Tories at the snap General Election.
He lost Wolverhampton South West to Rob Marris by 801 votes in the 2015 election after previously unseating Mr Marris by 691 votes in 2010.
Mr Uppal, 49, has put himself forward as one of the Conservative candidates declaring: "I relish the chance. I would love to do it again."
It comes as Labour pieced together a shortlist of five to replace Mr Marris, who has announced he will not defend his seat at the June 8 poll.
During his five years in Parliament Mr Uppal was the only Sikh MP and by coincidence had the same majority as Enoch Powell – one of his predecessors in the seat.
Mr Uppal said his wife, Kashmir, had persuaded him to put himself forward.
He said: "We were going on holiday and at the airport I was stopped by two former constituents who recognised me because I had helped their son. They were extremely grateful and thanked me.
"My wife saw that and that was one of the things she said to me over the last week since the General Election was called.
"I think what Wolverhampton needs at this time is someone with experience.
"With Rob stepping down it is likely the Labour candidate will not have the experience I have had of being in Westminster.
"I think Wolverhampton South West could do with a Conservative MP to really bang the drum for them at Parliament."
Mr Uppal said voluntary work he has been doing in Wolverhampton had also persuaded him to stand so he could help more people.
He said: "One of the things I have been doing since 2015 is volunteering in the city to help young people with special needs get work experience to give them confidence.
"I ran a workshop just before Easter meeting a lot of young people and that is exactly the sort of thing an MP should be doing."
The Conservative Party is expected to select a shortlist of three candidates for the seat tomorrow.
Meanwhile three city councillors are thought to be among five people bidding to be the constituency's Labour candidate.
The Express & Star understands that the authority's health boss Sandra Samuels, East Park councillor Harman Banger and Wednesfield South's Bhupinder Gakhal have all made the shortlist.
