A FORMER parliamentary candidate is due to appear in court after being charged with drink-driving.

Kathryn Smith, who was Labour candidate for Gravesham at the general election and is a former Bexley Council leader, will appear at Dartford Magistrates’ Court on July 27.

The 50-year-old, of Cambridge Avenue in Welling, was charged on Saturday (July 10), after she crashed into a roundabout in University Way, Dartford, on April 26.

Firefighters had to cut the 50-year-old from her Renault Laguna and she was taken to hospital with minor injuries.

Smith, a former director of the Co-operative Bank, lost to Conservative Adam Holloway by 9,312 votes at the election on May 6.