It has been dubbed “the march of the Starm-troopers” by Labour insiders – a group of centrists loyal to the party leader being handed plum seats for the general election.
The trend is expected to come to the fore in the days ahead as Labour’s ruling body gets to hand-pick candidates for safe constituencies newly vacated by retiring MPs.
Sir Keir Starmer’s reforms to create his “changed Labour” party have, behind the scenes, included an attempt by his allies to get supporters running as parliamentary candidates.
Left-wingers have for months made claims that they are being “purged”, with disciplinary cases blocking the path for some would-be candidates, often those with trade union links.
It is a theme evident across the sweep of selections, according to Michael Crick, the veteran political journalist who is running Tomorrow’s MPs on X, formerly Twitter, a project dedicated to who is being picked for the general election.
The forcing out of Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labour leader, and the stand-off over whether Diane Abbott, his pick for the Home Office, can run as a candidate are held up by the Left as proof of such a trend.
But members of Team Keir argue they play no direct role in the process, with both disciplinary and selection matters being handled by Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC).
The NEC, made up of a mix of politicians, party officials, activists and trade union officials, is the Labour Party’s ruling body and in the past has often become the focal point for factional in-fighting.
Currently, given Sir Keir’s political strength within the party having pulled Labour to the brink of returning to office, the NEC is widely seen as having a pro-Keir majority.
And now the election campaign has been formally called, the NEC’s various panels are able to name which person will be Labour’s candidate in seats still vacant.
That is a power beyond the Conservative Party selection set-up, which allows the central party to only put forward a shortlist of three during the campaign, with local Tory associations making the final call.
Five seats are newly available after the Labour MPs John Cryer, Kevin Brennan, John Spellar, Virendra Sharma and Barbara Keeley announced they were standing down since the snap election was called.
The first four politicians won the last general election by 47 percentage points, 24 points, 31 points and 38 points respectively – all vast margins, meaning they are ultra safe seats.
Ms Keeley’s seat, Worsley and Eccles South, was only won by 7 per cent, making it more up for grabs, though given the nationwide polls show Labour way ahead it should be held with ease.
One Left-wing activist suspected Team Keir allies being involved in the timing of the announcements: “They have clearly held back multiple MPs from retiring to impose their plum people.”
It means at least five seats that will in all likelihood remain Labour can now have candidates dropped into them by Labour’s NEC. There are others that need filling, though not many.
A number of young Labour moderates with growing public profiles are said to be in the running. One is Luke Akehurst, a moderate member of the NEC and long-time critic of the hard Left.
Another is Josh Simons, the director of Labour Together, a think tank launched during the Corbyn years to reinvigorate the party’s moderate wing that is close to Sir Keir.
A third reportedly in with a chance of being given a long-held Labour seat is Georgia Gould, the leader of Camden council.
The Telegraph was told that others with eye-catching, centrist back stories, such as veterans and businessmen, were being considered. June 4 is said to be the deadline for NEC decisions.
Could former New Labour grandees possibly seek a return too? Douglas Alexander, the former Labour shadow foreign secretary, is already running in East Lothian.
Ed Balls, the former shadow chancellor, told The Telegraph he would not be seeking a seat. Since being voted out in 2015 he has become a broadcaster and podcaster, hosting Political Currency with George Osborne, the former Tory chancellor.
A possible return to politics has long been a point of speculation for David Miliband, the former foreign secretary defeated by his brother Ed Miliband for the Labour leadership in 2015.
Yet one Starmer ally told The Telegraph that was unlikely. Mr Miliband would have to step back from work commitments with immediate effect and relocate from New York.
The exact shape of Labour’s candidates list – and any new “Starm-troopers” being deployed – is expected to become apparent over the next week.
