The Rocky Road to Candidate Selection
| Author | Paula Keaveney |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/20419058231167261 |
| Published date | 01 March 2023 |
| Date | 01 March 2023 |
12 POLITICAL INSIGHT • MARCH 2023
‘When I look back on my
attempt to become a
Labour parliamentary
candidate I shudder,’
writes
Sunday Times
columnist and former
sportsman Matthew Syed. ‘I found myself in
a labyrinth of vested interests, affiliates and
shadowy networks. After a year, I realised
that the Labour Party was set up to select
the wrong candidates in the wrong way for
the wrong reasons.’
We wouldn’t expect someone failing to
negotiate a system to praise that system. But
Syed’s complaint illustrates key points about
how some political parties choose candidates.
The rules can look odd. If you don’t know how
to work the levers you may fail. And it is not
always clear what the ‘right’ outcome is.
The Rocky Road to
Candidate Selection
Paula Keaveney analyses the often chaotic, complex and daunting
journey that prospective parliamentary candidates face in order to
be selected, and asks if it is ever possible to s elect a perfect candidate
in an imperfect political world.
Candidate selections rarely make the
news. But when they do they illustrate the
fault lines within parties. In 2022, Labour MP
Sam Tarry was replaced as candidate in East
London’s Ilford South, while another Labour
MP, Ian Byrne, narrowly survived a selection
vote in West Derby, in Liverpool. Each case
was described as a contest between party
wings; between those favoured by the
leadership and those not. Things got nasty
with allegations of bullying and threats
of legal action. But any nastiness was
concentrated on a small group, on those with
the power to decide. Reportedly just over
400 people voted in West Derby for example,
© Jeff Moore / Alamy Stock Photo
Political Insight March 2023 BU.indd 12Political Insight March 2023 BU.indd 12 27/02/2023 13:4927/02/2023 13:49
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