Labour’s national executive, meeting yesterday, has given the go ahead to parliamentary selections in 26 marginal seats which the party lost last year. The decision reverses an earlier decision reported here, and follows pressure from constituency parties eager to start campaigning against the Tory-led government. The seats chosen are all in southern England (outside London) and the Midlands. The reason no seats have been chosen in Labour heartlands in Scotland and Wales, London and the North is that, since the effect of future boundary changes may be considerable, the party wishes to offer protection to sitting MPs who may be displaced or find that their seats become less secure for Labour. Party members may well feel that campaigning now is more important than the interests of MPs.
Even northern marginal seats like Pendle, lost last year and surrounded by other marginal seats which were also lost last year like Burnley and Colne Valley, will not be allowed to select. Members in seats like Pendle may well be concerned that they will have foisted on them a displaced sitting MP with no local connection rather than a local figure who has spent the previous few years campaigning in the area.
The full list of constituencies where selections will take place are as follows, showing whether the selection is to be open or have a women-only shortlist.
Seat |
Majority |
Status |
Corby |
1,951 |
Open |
Lincoln |
1,058 |
AWS |
Loughborough |
3,744 |
Open |
Northampton North |
1,936 |
AWS |
Bedford |
1,353 |
Open |
Harlow |
4,925 |
AWS |
Ipswich |
2,079 |
Open |
Norwich South |
310 |
Open |
Peterborough |
4,861 |
AWS |
Stevenage |
3,578 |
AWS |
Thurrock |
92 |
AWS |
Waveney |
769 |
Open |
Brighton Kemptown |
1,328 |
AWS |
Chatham and Aylesford |
6,069 |
Open |
Crawley |
5,928 |
Open |
Dover |
5,274 |
AWS |
Hastings and Rye |
1,993 |
AWS |
Hove |
1,868 |
Open |
Milton Keynes South |
8,961 |
Open |
Reading West |
6,004 |
AWS |
Stroud |
1,299 |
Open |
Swindon South |
3,544 |
AWS |
Warwick and Leamington |
3,513 |
Open |
Worcester |
2,982 |
AWS |
Burton on Trent |
6,304 |
Consultation arranged |
Redditich |
5,821 |
Consultation arranged |
In Wales the reduction in the number of constituencies will have a great impact. The absence of Welsh seats may also be linked to the fact they don’t have a clue at this stage on how many current marginals will exist again after the review.