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Labour has kicked off selections for another string of key marginal seats dotted across the party’s heartland areas.
Officials have imposed early November deadlines for the targets in the midlands and northern England as they aim to get candidates in place should Theresa May’s government collapse amid Brexit talks and trigger a fresh election.
The swing seats where selections have opened in recent days are:
- Calder Valley;
- Carlisle;
- Norwich North;
- Rossendale and Darwen;
- Stoke-on-Trent South;
- Watford;
- York Outer.
The contests to pick candidates for several other key seats such as Broxtowe and Thurrock began last month.
Jeremy Corbyn needs to win 64 more seats to form an overall majority in the Commons. One estimate this week by Electoral Calculus said Labour is on course to be the largest party but short of enough MPs to govern alone.
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