Labour weighs up candidates as activists flock to by-election seats

Good morning. A trio of by-elections – in Mid Bedfordshire, Selby and Ainsty and Uxbridge and South Ruislip – are on the horizon following the resignations of Boris Johnson and two of his close allies Nadine Dorries and Nigel Adams. The string of resignations has left both Labour and the Lib Dems rubbing their hands, and both parties were straight out on the campaign trail following the announcements.

Mid Bedfordshire presents possibly the most interesting of the three contests. Its large Conservative majority (Dorries won the seat by more than 24,000 votes in 2019) and location within the Tories’ southern heartlands draw obvious comparison with the by-elections in Chesham and Amersham and Tiverton and Honiton – which both saw the Lib Dems emerge victorious, having overturned huge Tory majorities. But Labour has already staked its own claim to Dorries’ seat. Visiting this weekend, national campaign coordinator Shabana Mahmood said “only” Labour could “turn the page on the Tories and their 13 years of failure”, while Labour East released a Lib Dem-esque bar chart on Twitter last night, claiming that it is a “clear choice” between the Tories or Labour in the seat. Pollster Britain Elects currently projects a Conservative hold, though it forecasts a significant fall in the Tories’ vote share and a surge in support for Labour.

Labour has long been targeting Johnson’s seat of Uxbridge and South Ruislip, and Labour’s candidate Danny Beales – a councillor in Camden in London – was joined by various frontbenchers to launch his campaign this weekend (including Mahmood, who looks to have had a very hectic couple of days). The Tories’ current majority is a more modest 7,210, and Britain Elects is forecasting the seat as a Labour gain. The pollster also has the Conservatives retaining Adams’ seat of Selby and Ainsty, but only very very narrowly ahead of Labour – which would itself be quite the result, given the Tories current majority of 20,137. Labour is expected to confirm its candidates for Mid Bedfordshire and Selby later this week.

Elsewhere, Labour has relaunched the Bernie Grant Leadership Programme, which was established to address the under-representation of Black, Asian and minority ethnic representatives within the party. The latest round of the programme will specifically focus on the underrepresentation of Black leaders at all levels of the party. Members have until July 16th to apply, with successful candidates receiving six months of bespoke training. Shadow Women and Equalities Secretary Anneliese Dodds sets out more details on the programme in a piece for LabourList this morning.

In other selections news, Sadiq Khan adviser Sarah Coombes has been selected as the Labour candidate for West Bromwich East, beating former Unite regional boss and general secretary candidate Gerard Coyne. Applications close at noon today for selections in Bangor Aberconwy and Clwyd North, and at 3pm for Selby and Ainsty, the party has confirmed, while selection applications have just opened in Bangor Aberconwy and Clwyd North. Candidates interested in Harlow and Wimbledon and Coombe have until midday on Thursday. And lastly for today, Labour MP Wayne David is backing a campaign by the Mirror for action to stop killings by dangerous dogs, telling the paper: “The public are clear they want the law toughened so there are more robust punishments for irresponsible dog owners.”