Selections open for new raft of Labour target seats including City of London

Selections for some of Labour’s most coveted target seats have opened as Jeremy Corbyn aims to plot a route to Downing Street.

Contests to pick Labour’s candidates in key marginals are already underway and the party has imposed deadlines in the coming weeks for bellwether seats such as Corby, Milton Keynes North and Morecambe and Lunesdale.

They are joined on the list by constituencies that were once seen as Tory strongholds but now look winnable amid metropolitan unrest over Brexit and Corbyn’s “surge” at the last election,  such as the Cities of London and Westminster, above, where activists hope to repeat the stunning win achieved in Kensington.

Corbyn needs to win 64 more seats to form an overall majority in the Commons. One estimate last month by Electoral Calculus said Labour is on course to be the largest party but short of enough MPs to govern alone.

The full list of Labour target seats where selections have begun.