I would have won trigger ballot in Bury South, Christian Wakeford claims

Christian Wakeford has said he thinks he would have passed a trigger ballot in Bury South if he had been required to go through the process and claimed that he does not know the reasoning behind the decision to exempt him.

The MP for Bury South – who defected from the Conservative Party to Labour in January – announced last week that he had been confirmed as the constituency’s candidate for the next general election.

Wakeford was appointed as the candidate without a trigger ballot process. Normally, an electoral college of local party branches and affiliated organisations (branches of trade unions and socialist societies) votes to decide whether an incumbent MP is automatically reselected or a full selection process is undertaken.

Asked by LabourList why he was not required to go through a trigger ballot, Wakeford said: “I don’t know the reasoning. Do I think I would have won it? Yes.”

Speaking at a Young Fabians event on Wednesday evening, Wakeford revealed that he was in Poland for a conference when he found out that he had been confirmed as Bury South’s candidate, saying he was made aware of the result “just as I was boarding my plane to come back”.

He said he had received a “very warm reception” from local members but added: “Would we have had an interesting time of it? I’m sure we would have done. But I was ready for a fight if or when it came.” The MP said his focus is now on campaigning and “delivering for the people of Bury South”.

During his speech at the event, Wakeford declared that people are “crying out for a Labour government”, adding: “It’s ours for the taking.” He told attendees that “you win elections in the centre” and argued that Labour is now “firmly in the centre”.

The MP said Tory backbenchers are “literally at each other’s throats” and claimed that he knows of former colleagues who are already looking for alternative jobs.

Announcing that he had been confirmed as Bury South’s candidate in a post on Twitter last week, Wakeford said he was “delighted” at the decision and thanked local members for the “warm welcome”.

He said: “I will continue to bring people together to deliver the Labour government Bury and the rest of the country so desperately needs.

“Rising mortgages, more food banks than branches of McDonalds, trade unions under attack, homelessness at record highs, a health service on life support and a bankrupt economy with delays everywhere. Only a united Labour Party can give people the stability needed.”

Other Labour MPs are currently undergoing the trigger ballot process. Apsana Begum, Ian Byrne and Sam Tarry, all members of the left-wing Socialist Campaign Group of MPs, have been ‘triggered’ by their local parties. Tarry lost the subsequent selection contest in his constituency of Ilford South to Jas Athwal.

A Momentum spokesperson described the decision to appoint Wakeford – who they highlighted has voted against workers’ rights and domestic abuse victims accessing benefits irrespective of immigration status – as a “democratic disgrace”.

National executive committee member Ann Black revealed that the NEC organisation committee endorsed 13 MPs without a trigger ballot at a meeting on November 8th, specifically MPs on maternity leave, who represent constituencies that have been suspended and who have become Labour MPs since the 2019 election.

Black noted in a report on the meeting that Wakeford fell into the last category, along with three by-election winners. She said some members were “concerned” about including Wakeford but “others argued that to win the next election we had to attract people who did not previously support Labour”.

Labour leader Keir Starmer said during his campaign to become leader in 2020 that “we should end NEC impositions of candidates” and that “local party members should select their candidates for every election”.