Sam Tarry, the Corbynite MP best known as Angela Rayner’s boyfriend, is facing the fight of his life to stay on as the Labour candidate for Ilford South at the next election. His securing of selection in 2019 was incredibly controversial at the time, resulting in local discontent that he’s clearly failed to reconcile. At the time the frontrunner, Jas Athwal, was suspended by Labour, allowing Corbyn to slot his favoured candidate in. Now deselection battles are in full flow… 

As of Saturday, members have so far voted 224 for a full and open selection contest, with just 104 backing Tarry. Over the weekend, six local Labour branches held their trigger ballot, with Tarry losing all six. Oh dear…

Over the weekend Tarry threw a barrage of emails at members from MPs and Lords backing his claim to the seat, not least from Ed Miliband who told members that Tarry worked as his shadow PPS, where he was “passionate” about the Green New Deal. Tulip Siddiq also sent a brief lobbying email, writing “I’ve known Sam since we were members of Young Labour and I know his commitment to socialist values.”

Most eyebrow-raising was an email to members from Lord Wajid Khan, by far the longest textual endorsement of the beleaguered Corbynite MP. Notably this email was sent exclusively to local Bangladeshi members, who were told “Sam has spoken up tirelessly for Kashmiris during his time as a member of the [APPG] for Kashmir as well as serving on the Executive Committee of Labour Friends of Kashmir.”

To think, open selections were once the favoured tool of Corbynites to remove Blairite MPs…