Unite activist wins key north east selection

A Unite activist and Labour councillor has won the race for a prized north-east seat as the party continues to announce a new wave of candidates.

Laura Pidcock won the selection for North West Durham after Pat Glass, a former shadow minister under Jeremy Corbyn, decided to step down at the general election.

Pidcock is a Northumberland county councillor who described herself as a socialist and a feminist.

The Durham seat was much sought after because of its huge majority – some 10,056 at the last election – which is still expected to return a Labour MP despite the party’s poor poll rating nationally.

The Tories were a distant second in 2015, gaining just under half of the level of support attracted by Labour.

Glass was first elected in 2010 and has served in a handful of frontbench positions including a brief spell as shadow education secretary in the aftermath of the Brexit vote and Labour MPs’ rebellion against Corbyn last year.

Voters in County Durham backed Brexit in the EU referendum.