Lambeth Councillor Tom Rutland has been parachuted in as Labour candidate for East Worthing and Shoreham, a now marginal seat that the Tories only won by 51% to 37% to Labour in 2019. It appears Starmer has ditched his pledge to end parachuting in candidates and to have a more “democratic” selection process. Rutland previously ran to be candidate in Steve Baker’s seat in Wycombe, getting on the shortlist in October 2022, though lost out to now Labour candidate Emma Reynolds. Clearly Labour didn’t like the local activists’ final say in that selection…

Councillor Rutland is still Deputy Chief Whip in Streatham Common and Vale. He’ll be a busy man going back and forth from London to Sussex. A staunch Remainer, Rutland has called for a people’s vote on Brexit and has been backed by the Labour Movement for Europe, a campaign to re-join the bloc that he’s “proud” to have supported. No wonder Sir Keir wanted to parachute the young candidate in…

CEO of Medical Aid for Palestine Melanie Ward has thrown her hat in the ring to be the Labour candidate for the new seat Beckenham and Penge. A brief glance at her social media reveals she holds vociferous anti-Israel views, claiming Israel is deliberately bombing Gazan civilians, and even going as far as to say Israel deliberately cut power off in Gaza to prevent “witnesses” to the war. She also retweeted a post claiming the conflict is caused by Israel’s attempt at “ethnic cleansing”…

Ward stood in Glenrothes for Labour in 2015 but lost out to the SNP. Beckenham and Penge will be a far easier run. The local CLP may have a different opinion to the party leadership on whether she should be selected…