The first was Jared O’Mara, who resigned in 2019 after a series of scandals. The second was Fiona Onasanya, who lost her seat after a criminal conviction. The third, whom it would be unfair to name, turned out to be without scandal. When the Labor NEC selects candidates there is always some quality control. But under Keir Starmer, the extent to which the committee’s selection committee exercised strict control over the final selection was outstanding. His allies say there is a strong argument that in recent years there have been an extraordinary number of MPs suspended, arrested or even simply shamed for inappropriate tweets – and that the bar for entry to parliament should be much higher. Conservative researchers and the Guido Fawkes website were spoiled for choice when they scoured Labor candidates’ social media posts to embarrass the party. Now, senior figures at Labor HQ are going through them with a fine-toothed comb to try to identify potential problems first. It is not an exact science and has many disadvantages. Often the concerns officials have are valid – as is the case with O’Mara and Onasanya. But sometimes candidates who seem like wild cards turn out to be good MPs, as the case of the third MP shows. And decisions often end up being factional. The scandal has not been limited to candidates on the left of the Labor Party – Chris Matheson and Mike Hill both called off elections over allegations of sexual harassment. Starmer’s critics say the new process creates identical candidates, very few from working-class jobs and all loyal to the Starmer wing of the party – as well as weakening local activists. Much of what Starmer is trying to do is not new. Each party leader tries to mold the party in his own image. But Corbyn had limited success because he was in constant battle with senior Labor figures for control of decision-making bodies. Corbyn and his allies had relatively few allies chosen to stand as MPs, partly because he ran two snap elections that required snap decisions from NEC panels, which were then perfectly balanced between left and centrist. Starmer has much more control over his NEC. New faces on the left emerged in 2019, including Nadia Whittome and Zarah Sultana, but some face possible de-selection such as Apsana Begum and Sam Tarry. Several of Corbyn’s favored candidates never entered parliament, such as Faiza Shaheen and Ali Milani, who tried to unseat Iain Duncan Smith and Boris Johnson respectively, and other allies such as Laura Pidcock and Laura Smith lost their seats in 2019. The approach under Corbyn has had nothing like the ruthless efficiency of selection under his successor, despite Starmer promising during the leadership campaign to give local members more control. Around him is a trusted group of top aides who have made it their life’s mission to remove every trace of Corbynism. Any candidate who even looks like a possible loose cannon – especially former Corbyn supporters – is likely to have something on social media that can be used to justify keeping them off the longlist, meaning members of the party never have the opportunity to vote for them. Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. According to some of the disqualified candidates, some of these reasons stretched credulity, such as tweets from Greens MP Caroline Lucas or from Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon when she said she had recovered from Covid. The tight control over options resulted in other conventions being broken. At the most recent meeting of Labor union members, many unions said they were concerned about the way the election was being conducted. Candidates backed by prominent unions have been rejected by the NEC, including at least six supported by Unite, including anti-racism campaigner Maurice Mcleod and Emma Dent Coad, the former MP for Kensington. Lorraine Townsend, who is backed by the feds, was blocked in Milton Keynes North. Momentum and even some soft-left MPs have been furious and have highlighted instances of what they see as hypocrisy when controversial candidates are chosen from Starmer’s wing of the party. The most obvious is Barking and Dagenham council leader Darren Rodwell, who won selection in Barking despite joking that he had the “worst tan possible for a black man” – Rodwell is white. Despite the NEC investigation, Rodwell was cleared after an apology. Internally, Labor sources are unrepentant about their strategy. “Just look at the rogues gallery of clowns that have been handpicked over the last few years by both sides,” said one senior aide. “The public thinks parliament is a joke. Keir wants serious people, proper ministers, to go through this recruitment.” There is also another part of the puzzle – although the polls look good for Labour, there is a significant chance that Starmer will have a slim majority or even a minority government. If he does, the calculation is that he cannot afford to be held to ransom by his own MPs, the same way the Conservatives have taken down four recent prime ministers.
