Nine leading members of the Labour Party in Bolton have quit their roles after accusing a ‘London clique’ of dictating the selection process for a Parliamentary candidate. The members were all part of the Bolton North East branch of the party and formed the selection committee for the Parliamentary constituency.
It is understood they were furious the national Labour Party selected the short-listing of applicants for the candidacy and imposed a three-person list contrary to the wishes of many local party members. The seat, which was won by Conservative incumbent Mark Logan in 2019, with a majority of just 378 votes, is an essential target seat for the party if they are to make gains on the Tories in the next general election.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service understands one of the issues which angered the committee was the absence from the list of chair of North West Labour, Leigh Drennan, who they believe was prevented from standing. Mr Drennan had been endorsed by Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner and several unions for the candidacy.
