Wythenshawe and Sale East – who’s in the running to be Labour’s candidate?

The date for the Wythenshawe and Sale East by-election has been confirmed as February 13th – and the quick fire selection process is coming to a head. Tomorrow a shortlisting panel of the NEC will whittle down the long list (which hasn’t been made public ) to a shortlist (which should be public tomorrow evening). Local members will then have just 48 hours to make a decision about who their favoured candidate should be.

With that in mind, we’ve pulled together a little information on some of the most talked about potential candidates ahead of the shortlisting meeting:

Rosa Battle is a Manchester City Councillor, serving on the council executive as the member for Culture and Leisure. The Battle family are prominent in Manchester politics – her father Jim is Deputy Police Comissioner and her uncle is former MP John Battle.

Steve Carter is Labour councillor for Hurdsfield in Macclesfield, where he lead the led the Labour Group until 2006. He also stood as candidate in two general elections in 2001 and 2005 – both times in Macclesfield, and was an MEP candidate in 2009. (Update: Steve Carter was not long listed for the selection).

Mike Kane was a councillor in Northenden, and is a former teacher. More recently he’s been acting Chief Exec of Movement for Change, leading on their payday lenders campaign. He’s thought by many to be the frontrunner for the seat.

Suzannah Reeves is a Manchester City Councillor, representing Old Moat ward. She’s a Director at Oldham Sixth Form College, and was once involved in a row over Aidan Burley’s conduct during a Holocaust talk at Auschwitz.

Tom Ross is Councillor for Stretford Ward on Trafford Council.   (Update: Tom Ross has not submitted an application)

Andrew Western is a councillor in Sale, where he represents Priory Ward. He’s on Labour’s Shadow Executive as the member for Tranformation & Resources on Trafford Council, where he’s also opposition spokesperson on Employment. Western is a Unite and Co-op Party member.

Obviously this information isn’t exhaustive, so if you’ve been long listed and we’ve missed you out (or know someone who has) – or you think any of this needs updating, just email us.