LABOUR’S decision to parachute candidates into safe seats in Wales was branded a “gross insult” to voters and local party activists today.
Think tank chief and former Labour aide Torsten Bell and Alex Barros-Curtis, Labour’s executive director of legal affairs, were selected as candidates for Swansea West and Cardiff West on Friday.
Mr Bell appears to have no connection to the country, while Mr Barros-Curtis went to school in north Wales.
Left former Labour MP for Cynon Valley Beth Winter accused the party of “imposing candidates” following the expedited process, which she branded an “insult to Wales.”
A statement from the Welsh Labour Grassroots campaign group said it was “deeply angered by the imposition” of the candidates from “on high.”
It added that Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer’s pledge for the party’s national executive not to impose candidates “lies torn up and forgotten on the pile of broken promises.
“Voters rightly expect candidates to have links to the area they wish to represent,” it continued, saying the fact that Mr Bell and Mr Barros-Curtis were neither local nor Welsh was a “gross insult to members.”
Stephen Kinnock, who is standing for Labour in Aberfan Maesteg, insisted the decision was taken with the local party’s input.
He said: “There were constituency Labour Party members on both of those selection committees.
“There was input from the local party membership in both cases.”
He added that “I know Torsten well” but did not answer when questioned if Mr Bell had ever been to Swansea.
“What Torsten will do is work his socks off to show that he is completely committed to the people of Swansea West,” he added.
“He will build trust and a strong relationship with his party members, as I would like to think that I have done, and in the end, people want a name, an MP that delivers, they want an MP who is a strong national voice and an active local campaigner, and that is what both Torsten and Alex will be.”
Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth said the decision to “parachute” in members was a “worrying sign about what Labour’s attitude in government would be towards Wales” and that it was insulting the country “to do this at the last minute.”
Welsh Labour has said the candidates’ selection panels “were formed by representatives from the Welsh executive committee and local members.”
