Selections Kick Off in Labour's Scottish Targets
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
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