Who’s on the Oldham West and Royton shortlist?

Yesterday, Labour’s NEC whittled down the hopefuls for the Oldham West and Royton by-election to a shortlist of four: Mohammed Azam, Jane East, Jim McMahon and Chris Williamson. They will face a selection meeting in the constituency on Thursday, where the candidate for December 3rd election will be chosen.

In line with selection rules, members who have joined the Labour Party over the past six months will not be able to vote – meaning that no one who has signed up since the election will be eligible.

The seat has a Labour majority of 14,738 and the party are widely expected to hold it, although there are concerns that a well-organised UKIP could mount a serious challenge. If the Tories’ planned boundary changes become official, a Labour MP in the seat could face a selection battle with Oldham East’s Debbie Abrahams before 2020.

Yesterday, it was revealed that Andrew Gwynne would be heading up Labour’s organising for the by-election.

Jim McMahon

McMahon has been leader of Oldham Council since 2011. He has been a councillor in Oldham for over 10 years and stood down from his job as Middleton town centre manager in 2013 to concentrate on being council leader full time. He had been widely tipped to run to be Labour’s Manchester Mayor candidate in 2017, and was appointed OBE earlier this year. He sits on the Labour NEC as a Labour councillor representative and is leader of the Labour LGA group – both positions he will have to vacate if he stands down as councillor.

Chris Williamson

Williamson was the MP for Derby North between 2010 and 2015, losing the seat to the Conservatives by just 41 votes. He was a shadow fire and communities minister for three years under Ed Miliband, and has been a vocal supporter of Jeremy Corbyn throughout the leadership contest. Previously, he had been leader of Derby Council, and has worked as a bricklayer and social worker. In January, he was one of the MPs to sign a letter calling for Labour to take a tougher anti-austerity line.

Mohammed Azam

Azam is a bus driver, former councillor in Oldham and has also previously sat on the Labour NEC. As a longstanding activist for the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy (CLPD), he is seen as the other left wing candidate alongside Williamson. He missed out on the selection in the Oldham East and Saddleworth 2011 by-election. Given his links to the town and the large number of Asian members in the seat, he could fancy his chances.

Jane East

East works for Christian Aid and was the Labour candidate in Colne Valley this May, where she improved Labour’s share of the vote but was unable to take the seat from the incumbent Conservative. In 2010, the Colne Valley candidate was Debbie Abrahams, who went on to be the Labour candidate in the Oldham East and Saddleworth by-election a few months later – could history repeat itself?