Doran is selected to fight by-election in City Centre

LABOUR has chosen long-time party worker Karen Doran to fight the crucial council by-election in City Centre ward.

The election has been sparked by the decision of SNP councillor David Becket to resign so he can take up a place at Harvard.

At the last council elections in 2007, City Centre was the closest-fought ward in Edinburgh, with all five main parties finishing within 278 votes of each other.

If the SNP loses, it could change the balance of control on the council where the Liberal Democrat-SNP administration currently has 29 seats, exactly the same number as the combined opposition parties.

Ms Doran, 49, has worked as office manager for Edinburgh North & Leith MSP Malcolm Chisholm and MP Mark Lazarowicz for almost 20 years.

She is married with two children, aged 17 and 23. She attended Tollcross Primary School and James Gillespie's High School, and has lived in Edinburgh all her life.