Selections are go in the top 20 target seats for Scottish Labour.

 

Executive Decisions 

The last meeting of the Scottish executive committee decided to allocate all-women shortlists for the 15 seats where a woman stood in 2017. This was weighted in order to achieve gender balance with the Scottish Labour MPs already elected. Unlike in previous years there appears to be little disagreement with the imposition - a recognition of the importance all-women shortlists have played in getting women elected. Some murmurings of dissent have emerged from Glasgow North West - one of the few constituency parties to request an all-women shortlist and not receive one. The executive committee has also decided that all candidates at the previous election are to be automatically shortlisted - but that doesn’t mean they’re a shoo-in for these seats this time. Expect quite a few of these seats to be hotly contested.

 

The Procedure

Once guidelines have been finalised, the leading constituency party in each Westminster seat will set up a selection panel to review candidates for the shortlist. The members of this panel will be elected by different constituency parties on a proportional basis because Scottish constituency parties are based on Holyrood boundaries not Westminster ones. A final candidate will then be selected at a special meeting by all members within the Westminster boundaries. The process is expected to last between 3 to 5 weeks.

 

The Top 20

Glasgow South West

SNP majority: 60

Swing needed: 0.08%

Candidate in 2017: Matt Kerr

Open Selection

 

Glasgow East

SNP majority: 75

Swing needed: 0.10%

Candidate in 2017: Kate Watson

All-woman shortlist

 

Airdrie and Shotts

SNP majority: 195

Swing needed: 0.26%

Candidate in 2017: Helen McFarlane

All-women shortlist

 

Lanark & Hamilton East

SNP majority: 360

Swing needed: 0.36%

Candidate in 2017: Andrew Hilland

Open selection

 

Motherwell & Wishaw

SNP majority: 318

Swing needed: 0.38%

Candidate in 2017: Angela Feeney

All-women shortlist

 

Inverclyde

SNP majority: 384

Swing needed: 0.49%

Candidate in 2017: Martin McCluskey

Open selection

 

Dunfermline & West Fife

SNP majority: 844

Swing needed: 0.83%

Candidate in 2017: Cara Hilton

All-women shortlist

 

Edinburgh North & Leith

SNP majority: 1625

Swing needed: 1.44%

Candidate in 2017: Gordon Munro

Open Selection

 

Glasgow North

SNP majority: 1060

Swing needed: 1.58%

Candidate in 2017: Pam Duncan-Glancy

All-women shortlist

 

Glasgow South

SNP majority: 2027

Swing needed: 2.27%

Candidate in 2017: Eileen Dinning

All-women shortlist

 

West Dunbartonshire

SNP majority: 2288

Swing needed: 2.60%

Candidate in 2017: Jean-Anne Mitchell

All-women shortlist

 

Linlithgow and East Falkirk

SNP majority: 2919

Swing needed: 2.60%

Candidate in 2017: Joan Coombes

All-women shortlist

 

Paisley & Renfrewshire North

SNP majority: 2613

Swing needed: 2.80%

Candidate in 2017: Alison Taylor

All-women shortlist

 

Paisley & Renfrewshire South

SNP majority: 2541

Swing needed: 3.05%

Candidate in 2017: Alison Dowling

All-women shortlist

 

Glasgow Central

SNP majority: 2267

Swing needed: 3.15%

Candidate in 2017: Faten Hameed

All-women shortlist

 

Glasgow North West

SNP majority: 2561

Swing needed: 3.30%

Michael Shanks

Open Selection

 

Western Isles

SNP majority: 1007

Swing needed: 3.40%

Candidate in 2017: Ealasaid MacDonald

All-women shortlist

 

East Kilbride, Strathaven & Lesmahagow

SNP majority: 3866

Swing needed: 3.57%

Candidate in 2017: Monique McAdams

All-women shortlist

 

Livingston

SNP majority: 3878

Swing needed: 3.69%

Candidate in 2017: Rhea Wolfs

All-women shortlist

 

Edinburgh East

SNP majority: 3425

Swing needed: 3.93%

Candidate in 2017: Patsy King

All-women shortlist