Labour has shortlisted three candidates in the fight for its Southport parliamentary nomination - but none of them are from the constituency.
Labour sees Southport as a very winnable seat in the next General Election, with Conservative MP Damien Moore currently holding a majority of just over 4,000 votes and Keir Starmer's party riding high in the polls. As such the race to be Labour's candidate is a hotly contested one.
While some local councillors had entered the race - including Kew member Sean Halsall - it appears that no one from the constituency or the wider Sefton borough has made it to the final three.
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One name that remains in the race is former Liverpool Labour councillor Patrick Hurley. Mr Hurley formerly represented the Mossley Hill area of the city before losing his seat at this year's local elections as he ran for the newly created Waterfront South ward.
Joining Mr Hurley in the final three is criminal barrister Ella Crine who previously worked on Hilary Clinton's presidential campaign and was also a parliamentary assistant to Wirral South MP Alison McGovern.
Ms Crine revealed she had made the shortlist on social media, tweeting: "So proud to be shortlisted with so much support to be Southport's Labour candidate and first ever Labour MP. We can do this - let's kick the Tories off Merseyside for good."
The ECHO understands that the final name on its Southport shortlist is Croydon Councillor and former Lord Mayor of Croydon Sherwan Chowdhury.
The lack of local councillors or residents on Labour's Southport shortlist has caused some contention as well as the fact that any long-listing process has been bypassed, with the selection moving straight to a shortlist.
Councillor Laura Lunn Bates, who represents the Kew ward within Southport for Labour took to Twitter to make this point.
She said: "I’m disappointed no local candidates are on the shortlist and a shame it’s gone straight to shortlist. As a local councillor, whichever candidate is selected will need to do work to win over members and residents."
Cllr Halsall also released a statement after he was kept off the list. He said: "It was sad to see the longlist/shortlist for Southport not include any local potential candidates. Most will know I applied to represent our great town and was humbled in the process to receive four out of five of our affiliated trade union nominations."
He added: "I'm a working class lad who was born and raised in this town and it would have been a huge honour to have the chance to represent the town."
The three shortlisted candidates will now move into full campaign mode ahead of a vote amongst members of the Southport Constituency Labour Party. The vote is expected to take place on July 22.
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