Nominations Open for Ilford South Seat

We don’t know how many potential candidates will throw their hats into the ring as candidates for the position of Labour’s candidate in Ilford South. We suspect that there might be as few as two.

In the Left corner we have sacked Shadow Transport Minister Sam Tarry, pictured above with an old mate. Tarry was selected in 2020 when a dirty tricks campaign, apparently orchestrated by Momentum, got front-runner and local council leader, Jas Athwal barred from standing.

In what must be one of the more outstanding ironies, Tarry has now engaged celebrity lawyers, Carter Ruck to challenge the Labour Party over what he claims to be “dirty tricks” that he alleges have been employed by his opponents. The irony is that it was “dirty tricks” employed by Tarry’s supporters which got Athwal suspended in 2020. The spurious allegations miraculously disappeared when the election was over.

It’s funny, isn’t it, that Momentum and their fellow travellers are major supporters of diversity and inclusion, particularly of people from minority ethnic groups, right up to the point when it’s “their” white man who is under threat.

Tarry has not endeared himself to the party leadership because of his propensity to make up policy on the hoof, acting contrary to the Leader’s instructions viz picket lines and, if the Express is to be believed, orchestrating a campaign to undermine or remove Starmer, under the banner, ‘Labour for Labour’. (Just what, we wonder, is Labour’s Deputy Leader and Tarry’s close personal friend, doing at the same time?)

In the Right corner, we have Jas Athwal, long-time Leader of Redbridge Council. It seems that Athwal and his allies did not waste their time after the general election. Taking their cue from the hard-left play book, they organised. And then ensured that all ward branches in the local party voted for an open selection. 

The Left used to be in favour of mandatory reselection of MPs, that is until it was their MPs who got deselected. So now Tarry alleges all kinds of fraud and dirty tricks against him. It might just be that the Labour Party members in Redbridge don’t want him.

However many candidates submit their names, this is going to be a two-horse race; Tarry and Athwal. And if the membership have any say in the matter, Athwal must be the favourite.