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Factionalism in the Labour Party is shutting working-class people out
Having politicians who understand working people’s problems through lived experience is surely part of the solution to a loss of trust in politics. But current trends show Labour going in the opposite direction, warns IAN LAVERY MP
Labour rosette

AS LABOUR gears up for a plethora of by-elections it seems a good time to assess the state of working-class representation in Westminster. Sadly, an initial look does not make good reading.

In recent weeks selections forced by boundary changes have seen the loss of colleagues Mick Whitley and Beth Winter. 

Parliament will be poorer without both Beth, who worked as a trade union official, housing officer for the charity Shelter and a community worker, and Mick, who worked in the merchant navy and at Vauxhall Motors, eventually becoming the union convener. Their losses are both a blow for the left and for authentic voices of working class in Parliament.

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