Selections: Flurry of Labour candidates unveiled in Scotland and England

Labour has selected parliamentary candidates for several more seats over the weekend, including a string of new candidates for constituencies in Scotland.

Scottish Labour announced six new candidates who will be standing for the party at the next general election, including in North East Fife, Aberdeenshire North and Moray East, and West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine.

Frontline NHS worker James Hynam was revealed as the Scottish Labour candidate for Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey. In a post on X following the announcement, Hynam said he was “incredibly proud” to have been chosen, adding that he will “fight tirelessly for every vote and bring positive change”.

🚨 Candidate Announcement 🚨
We are pleased to announce that James Hynam is Labour’s candidate for the new seat of Moray West, Nairn, and Strathspey. Polls show Labour is the main challenger in this seat. If you can afford to, please consider donating: https://t.co/CVAiXvJHqM pic.twitter.com/TQod5xXXlt

— Moray Labour Party (@MorayLabour) April 5, 2024

Meanwhile, Aberdeen councillor Kate Blake was picked as the party’s candidate for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine. Stirling council leader Chris Kane was announced as the candidate for Stirling and Strathallan.

Jennifer Gallagher was confirmed as the Scottish Labour candidate for North East Fife, while Andrew Brown was chosen to stand in Aberdeenshire North and Moray East and James Wallace was picked for Dumfries and Galloway.

According to Electoral Calculus, none of the six seats are currently projected to be won by Labour at the next election, with the SNP expected to take all of the seats apart from North East Fife, which the Liberal Democrats are projected to win.

New picks in England

In England, Kerry Postlewhite revealed that she has been chosen as Labour’s candidate for Melksham and Devizes, writing in a post on X that she is “looking forward to working hard” with the local party “to get our country’s future back”.

Incredibly proud to have been selected as the @UKLabour candidate for #MelkshamDevizes. It’s a new seat and after 14 years of Tory rule, I’m looking forward to working hard with @MelkshamL5398 to get our country’s future back. 🌹

— Kerry Postlewhite (@kerryp_labour) April 6, 2024

Jacqueline Brown has also reportedly been selected as the party’s candidate in Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge, according to the Tomorrow’s MPs X account run by journalist Michael Crick.

Melksham and Devizes is currently projected by Electoral Calculus to be on a knife edge between the Lib Dems and the Tories, with Labour predicted to come in third, while Labour is projected to come in second in Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge behind the Conservatives.

Faster selections – but are contests fast enough?

Labour’s selection of candidates in England has sped up in recent months after the party’s national executive committee approved a quicker selection process at the end of last year, arguing that “continued political volatility” and “uncertainty” about the date of the next election required the party “to increase the pace”.

A document – seen by LabourList – stated that a new selection process has been introduced for “non-battleground and non-notionally Labour-held seats” in England from November, “in anticipation of a general election in spring 2024”.

Some activists have voiced frustration recently at still not yet having candidates in place in many non-target seats, however. Dudley, where Labour recently launched its local election campaign, is among them.

There had been widespread speculation that a general election might be called in May, but Rishi Sunak last month ruled out a ballot coinciding with the local elections on May 2nd. The Prime Minister said in January his “working assumption” is that an election will take place in the second half of this year.

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