Labour rejects all-women lists in half of seats

Published on Thursday 25 February 2010 21:45

LABOUR has decided against all-women shortlists in half of the seats in Scotland where sitting MPs are standing down at the next election.

The all-female lists were introduced in 1992 and trumpeted as a way to get more Labour women into Westminster, and the party has a target of having 40 per female MPs in the next parliament.

But the party's National Executive Committee has decided that only five of the ten seats up for grabs in the upcoming election in Scotland should be women-only.

The Edinburgh South seat, left vacant after the resignation of sitting MP Nigel Griffiths, will be an open contest, The Scotsman can reveal, with male candidates invited to put their names forward for the Labour nomination.

Among the favourites to land the nomination will be senior Edinburgh councillor Ian Murray, with former council leader Donald Anderson already ruling himself out of the contest.

Edinburgh South will join other vacant Labour seats in East Kilbride, Livingston, Glasgow Central and Cumbernauld where all-women lists will not be imposed. Five seats will be women-only, with Airdire and Shotts and West Dunbartonshire having to select a female candidate.

Edinburgh East, Glasgow East and Kilmarnock and Loudoun have already selected candidates from all-women lists.

The move follows a major row in the Airdrie and Shotts constituency, where an all-female list was put in place despite strong objections from local party members.

A Labour spokesman confirmed last night that the party had taken a "pragmatic approach" and decided to impose all-women lists in only half the seats made vacant in Scotland.

Labour insiders have welcomed the decision not to impose all- female lists in every available seat. One senior party source said: "

Having all-women shortlists in every case would have been sending out the wrong message. What about up-and-coming young men in the party? What about people from ethnic minorities?"

The decision to allow an open contest in Edinburgh South comes after a bitter row over Labour choosing a candidate from an all-women shortlist to replace Shotts MP Dr John Reid.

Labour officials recently wrote to the local party in the constituency ordering them to pick a female candidate "urgently" for the forthcoming general election despite intense opposition from activists.

Last year, Labour's Scottish General Secretary had to suspend candidate selection in the seat because of a backlash from members.

Local office bearers are now discussing resigning if they are unable to choose a local candidate in an open selection.

Most local members would prefer North Lanarkshire councillor Jim Logue as their candidate, while the party hierarchy appears to favour Joanne Milligan, a former chairwoman of Scottish Labour students who now works in London.

Johanna Baxter, who is close to Labour's deputy leader Harriet Harman, has also been linked to the seat.

It is understood that if activists in Airdrie and Shotts do not start the selection process soon, the London leadership of the party will use special measures to take over the process.