Results imminent in Winter-Jones contest in key test for the left

Good morning. We can expect the results of the selection contest between Socialist Campaign Group backbencher Beth Winter and frontbencher Gerald Jones for the new Merthyr Tydfil and Upper Cynon seat today in what will be the latest of many reckonings for the left of the party. Keep an eye on the LabourList feed for the results.

The Rutherglen by-election that’s been looming for some time looms a little more imminently this morning after the confirmation yesterday that sitting MP Margaret Ferrier’s appeal against her 30-day suspension had failed. The suspension is long enough to trigger a potentially by-election inducing recall petition. Commenting on the news, Labour’s candidate in the seat, Michael Shanks, said: “It’s right that after years of anger and frustration with our current MP tho se of us who live in Rutherglen and Hamilton West now have the power to decide who represents us. I hope the recall process can begin soon.” Scottish Labour released a video of a local GP saying Ferrier should be “hanging her head in shame” and encouraging people to go and vote in the recall petition to trigger the election.

Meanwhile, Labour continues to put pressure on one-time Tory poster boy Ben Houchen (arguably the least impressive person in contemporary British politics to have his own -ism) with plans to force a vote to parliament today in the hopes of revealing documents relating to the government’s decision not to allow a National Audit Office’s (NAO) investigation into corruption allegations around the South Tees Development corporation. The government opted to set up its own investigation instead, against the wishes of many (including Houchen himself).

Shadow Levelling Up Secretary Lisa Nandy asserted that local people “need answers”, continuing: “There was cross-party support, including from the Conservative mayor, for a NAO investigation into the serious allegations of misuse of hundreds of millions of pounds of public money and assets. But for some reason, ministers – who are responsible for the flawed system of accountability that has partly led to this situation – have chosen to set up a review where they will hand-pick the panel and terms.”

The GMB congress continues today in Brighton following Keir Starmer’s speech to the union yesterday. Sometime-LabourList contributor David Tarren, who interviewed several conference delegates, said Starmer’s speech was perceived as both balanced, in its acceptance of the role of oil and gas within the UK’s energy mix beyond 2050, and highly progressive, through Labour’s pledge to combine economic growth and the creation of secure and well-paid unionised jobs. Whether a positively received speech is enough to quell recent discomfort between the party and the unions over Labour’s position on North Sea oil and gas remains to be seen.

Labour’s ongoing ‘Me Too’ moment rumbles on, with Warrington North MP Charlotte Nichols hitting out at a Labour claim that there is “a wide range of support available to complainants”, saying she felt “gaslighted” by the party she represents in Westminster. She also did not rule out using parliamentary privilege to name the anonymous frontbencher who was the subject of an article on alleged sexual harassment published in Tortoise last month. Given that it is only stories by Esther Webber that appear to have kicked the party into robust action on recent allegations of sexual harassment, some doubts about the efficacy of Labour’s procedures would seem eminently reasonable.

On LabourList this morning, we have the story of how Labour’s handling of boundary changes has left party members in Workington without a vote on their parliamentary candidate. The row rumbles on, with shortlisted Gillian Troughton withdrawing from the race last night. “I stand in solidarity with members across the country who feel the selection process is failing grassroots members.”