Milton Keynes South parliamentary selection – shortlist finalised

Update, July 17th: Milton Keynes councillor Emily Darlington has been selected as the Labour candidate for Milton Keynes South.

Milton Keynes South has been held by Tory MP Iain Stewart since its creation in 2010 following a review of the boundaries of the city’s two constituencies. The preceding constituency, Milton Keynes South West, was represented by Labour MP Phyllis Starkey from 1997 until the boundary change, when she lost to Stewart by 5,201 votes.

Stewart’s majority has fluctuated in subsequent elections – from 8,672 in 2015, down to 1,725 in 2017 and back up to 6,944 in 2019. But the size of his most recent majority does make it interesting that Labour has selected the seat as one of the first 14 constituencies in which the Constituency Labour Party (CLP) has been allowed to get started with its selection process early, suggesting that the seat is a target for the next election.

A shortlist has now been finalised and hustings are scheduled for July 17th – after which local members will vote for who they want to be Labour’s parliamentary candidate.

Bodrul Amin has made the shortlist. Amin has been a Labour Party member in Luton since 1997 and has served as Luton South CLP treasurer and chair. He previously worked as a teacher and was an NEU district secretary. Amin has also worked as a trade union solicitor. He ran unsuccessfully for election to Labour’s national executive committee in 2020, standing as a CLP representative, and this year stood for the position of CLP representative for the Eastern region on Labour’s national policy forum, endorsed by Open Labour.

Next on the shortlist is Milton Keynes councillor Emily Darlington. Darlington was first elected to represent Bletchley East ward on the council in 2018. She is deputy leader of the Labour group and currently serves as cabinet member for adults, housing and healthy communities. She stood unsuccessfully as the Labour candidate in Milton Keynes North in 2015.

Miriam Rice is also on the shortlist. Rice is a Labour and Co-operative councillor for Northolt Mandeville ward on Ealing council. She was first elected to the council in 2018 and re-elected at the recent local elections. Rice is currently serving as the vice chair of the London Co-operative Party.

The final name on the list is Nik Slingsby. He is a lawyer based in London, who previously served as CLP and branch chair in Cities of London and Westminster constituency. He unsuccessfully contested that parliamentary seat at the 2015 general election, losing out to the Tory candidate by 9,671 votes.