GREENS have chosen a local nurse as their candidate for the Makerfield by-election in the midst of a dispute as to how hard they should contest the seat.

Chris Kennedy, a local campaigner, was chosen at a party meeting on Wednesday to stand in the June 18 poll.

However, some senior party figures are concerned that their intervention may help defeat Labour leadership challenger Andy Burnham and hand the seat to Reform.

In the local elections this month, Green candidates across the constituency polled around 2,300 votes, about a third of the Labour total, while Reform comfortably won in every ward.

One senior Green figure told the Financial Times: “We do not want this one to go to Reform, and to be quite frank, we do not want Labour to turn around and say, ‘If you vote Green, you’re actually voting Reform,’ because that will be used for the next three years.”

One possibility is that the party will not mount more than a token campaign in what is expected to be a very closely-fought contest.