Super Tuesday (and Wednesday): Labour unveil raft of new election candidates

Labour has announced several new parliamentary candidates for the general election after a ‘Super Tuesday’ of selections last night.

Six candidates from across the country were revealed yesterday evening, amid ongoing speculation of a possible May election.

Jenny Riddel-Carpenter has been selected as the candidate for Suffolk Coastal, currently represented by former Deputy Prime Minister Therese Coffey.

She said she was “delighted” to have been selected and said: “The local issues in Suffolk Coastal are personal priorities – it’s where I grew up, went to school and it’s the place that shaped me.

“People are ready for change and I can’t get wait to get going.”

In Leicestershire, Unison East Midlands organiser Hajira Piranie was announced as the candidate for Harborough, Oadby and Wigston.

Won by the Conservatives with a majority of more than 17,000 votes in 2019, the constituency last elected a Labour MP in 1945.

It’s a privilege to have been selected as your Labour & Co-operative candidate for Harborough, Oadby & Wigston. This place is my home and I won’t stand by and let Tory austerity destroy our communities. I will be your champion and won’t let you down 🌹 pic.twitter.com/9Tn9hlZ4Sg

— Hajira Piranie (@HajiraPiranie) March 12, 2024

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Piranie said: “This place is my home and I won’t stand by and let Tory austerity destroy our communities.

“I will be your champion and won’t let you down.”

Alex Sufit was selected for the redrawn constituency of South West Hertfordshire, which borders the bellwether constituency of Watford.

Labour was pushed into third in South West Hertfordshire at the last general election, behind former Conservative MP David Gauke, who stood as an independent candidate after having the whip removed for rebelling against the government.

Sufit, a former head of employer communications at the Social Mobility Commission, said: “It is a true privilege to have been selected to represent Labour in South West Hertfordshire. 

“We deserve better, and as your Labour MP, I will do everything in my power to ensure a brighter future for us all.”

Lambeth councillor Iain Simpson has been selected for the renamed Broadland and Fakenham constituency. He previously stood for the party in the same constituency in 2017, coming second with almost 30% of the vote.

Basildon councillor and Labour First organiser Alex Harrison was selected for the Essex constituency of Basildon and Billericay, with Najmul Hussain chosen to represent Labour in the Lincolnshire constituency of Brigg and Immingham.

In Kent, Lewis Bailey announced this morning he will be taking the fight to Tom Tugenhat as the Labour candidate for Tonbridge.

He said: “14 years of Tory rule has left the people of Tonbridge and the UK worse off, and I’m thrilled to be taking the challenge to Tom Tugendhat in the upcoming election.”

Labour’s East of England branch announced more candidates earlier this afternoon, with Onike Gollo to stand as the party’s candidate in Maldon, Alex Diner in Harwich and North Essex and Rosalind Doré in Epping Forest.

In the South West, Dan Aldridge has been selected as Labour’s candidate in Weston-Super-Mare, while Jonathan Barter was picked to stand in Tiverton and Minehead, currently held by the Liberal Democrats after a by-election in 2022.

In the South East, barrister Alex Just was picked unanimously to stand in Farnham and Bordon. He said he is determined to capitalise on Labour’s significant lead in the national opinion polls and make it possible for the party to win in the new constituency.

“With the backing of local voters, I am determined to be at the heart of a Labour government that will begin the task of fixing broken Britain,” Just said.

If Rishi Sunak opts to call a general election to coincide with local elections on May 2nd, Parliament would need to be dissolved by March 26th.

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