Ian Byrne is facing a crucial few weeks that will determine whether he will continue to be the Member of Parliament for West Derby.
Mr Byrne was elected in December 2019 and has made a big impact in Parliament. Having led on major national campaigns against poverty and hunger he was named MP of the Year earlier this year.
But despite gathering plaudits for his efforts, Mr Byrne is facing a tight fight to hold onto the Labour nomination that would allow him to retain his seat at the next General Election.
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Earlier this month the ECHO revealed that Mr Byrne had been "triggered". Meaning local branches had voted to open up a selection contest which would allow others to challenge the incumbent MP for the Labour nomination in what is a very safe seat for the party.
Yesterday, after mounting speculation, Croxteth Councillor Anthony Lavelle confirmed that he has made it onto the longlist of candidates. He will now be considered the main challenger to the sitting MP.
Announcing his candidacy, Cllr Lavelle, who has represented the Croxteth ward for six years, said: "I am delighted to have been longlisted to stand to be the next Member of Parliament for Liverpool West Derby.
"West Derby constituency is the only place I want to represent. It’s the place I grew up - the place I went to school - the place I got my first job and the place I bought my first home. I am looking forward to the opportunity to speak to local party members over the coming weeks about why I want to be their voice in Parliament.
"It has been the honour of my life to serve my home area of Croxteth on Liverpool City Council. It would be an even greater honour to serve the people of West Derby in Westminster."
It is not clear at this stage which other names are on the longlist, but Cllr Lavelle is likely to be the biggest threat to Mr Byrne as the process moves forward.
There is a bit of recent history to consider when looking at the battle ahead.
In 2019, some members of the West Derby Constituency Labour Party were very angry that local councillor Nick Crofts was kept off the ballot in the race to replace outgoing MP Stephen Twigg.
Scores of local members wrote a furious letter to the party, complaining of a "stitch up" to keep Cllr Crofts out of contention and the CLP passed an emergency resolution, with a demonstration against the decision also held.
In the end, the final run-off for the seat saw Mr Byrne win the nomination by a narrow margin over Wavertree councillor Angela Coleman. A chaotic meeting saw two recounts before he was declared the winner. But for some of those local members, that sense of frustration remained.
While Mr Byrne has received plaudits from far and wide - including Andy Burnham, Steve Rotheram and Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner - it is the local members who will decide his future. West Derby is seen as a fairly mixed constituency and the feeling is this will be a tight race.
In terms of what happens next, once the full longlist of candidates is published, a selection committee made up of local members and affiliated unions will whittle the names down to a shortlist. That shortlist will then be voted on by the CLP members, with the winner announced as Labour's candidate and likely Member of Parliament after the next General Election.
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