Labour Party: The battle of the east London centrists

As the Labour Party gather for their conference in Liverpool, there is a renewed focus on preparing for the next General Election, with much of it rooted in the capital.

In parts of east London, a political struggle has begun, which could end with a more centrist Labour line-up in the area.

A cluster of Parliamentary seats are up for grabs, many of them with sizeable Labour majorities. They are vacant due to sitting MPs either retiring or because local members have voted to open the seat up for re-selection.

And they have become a battleground between the left and centre of the party, which is likely to test Keir Starmer's influence his and leadership of the party.

London formed the bedrock of support for Jeremy Corbyn and Momentum - the activist movement backing him - has been stronger here than anywhere else.

But some observers believe the left-wing party membership is dropping off and so too is their engagement in local activity such as canvassing and selecting members to run for Parliament. So can he shake off the hangover of his left-wing predecessor?

In the coming weeks, candidates will be selected in the parliamentary seats of Ilford South, Barking, Dagenham and Poplar & Limehouse as well as what is likely to be a newly created seat: Stratford and Bow.

The most acrimonious battle is likely to be in Ilford South where the sitting left-winger Sam Tarry MP faces a challenge from Redbridge Council leader Jas Athwal whom Mr Tarry beat for the seat in controversial circumstances in 2019.

In Poplar & Limehouse, MP Apsana Begum, another candidate heavily backed by Momentum, has also been forced to face a reselection process and is likely to be challenged by at least one figure favoured by the party leadership. Ms Begum has just returned to work after three months off sick following what she described as a "campaign of misogynistic abuse".

For the vacancy in Barking, Darren Rodwell, leader of the local council, is thought to be the favourite, but can expect a strong challenge from businessman Ibrahim Dogus.

The selection of a candidate in the new constituency of Stratford and Bow could be complicated. Labour branches in the local borough of Newham are still suspended, pending a long investigation by the party into claims of "membership irregularities".

There's a bitter history to this contest. Immediately before the current MP Sam Tarry was selected in 2019, the favourite to win, Jas Athwal, was suspended over an allegation of sexual harassment. That ruled him out of the race. He always said the claim was unfounded and he was later cleared. Tarry, a former trade union official and spokesman for Momentum, won a majority of 24,101 in the subsequent election. This summer Tarry faced a vote by party members, who opted to "trigger" a process of re-selection, which gave Athwal the opportunity to join the contest again. Tarry has complained to the Labour Party. Over the summer, he lost his job as shadow transport minister when he gave media interviews from an RMT picket line. Tarry's tried to keep a high-profile among activists, recently joining a campaign to force a vote at conference committing Labour to supporting striking workers and for inflation-proof pay-rises. However in all 10 ward branches members voted to force him to go through a re-selection process and therefore seem unlikely to vote him in. It leaves Athwal, the leader of Redbridge council, the clear favourite to win the nomination.

Here too, the MP, Apsana Begum has been "triggered" by local members, so she has go through a selection contest to stand as MP in the next election. Many people seem to have lost faith in her. Given Labour's near 29,000 majority here, this seat could be highly sought-after by political hopefuls. Ms Begum has also complained to the party. In June she was signed off sick after what she described as a "sustained campaign of misogynistic abuse." She called on the party to investigate "alleged" abuses. Last week she was said to have returned to work. In a recent interview, she said she was being targeted by her party "because I am a socialist, because of my politics, because I'm a Muslim woman of Bangladeshi origin, and I'm working class". She added: "They don't want us to represent people that are like us in Parliament." Her supporters include Diane Abbott, MP for Hackney and Stoke Newington. Last year Ms Begum, described as being on the left of the party, was cleared by a jury at Snaresbrook Crown Court of making fraudulent housing claims accusations which she said had been "driven by malicious intent". The local Labour party has a strong Bangladeshi membership and Labour might expect a strong challenge at the election from a candidate from Aspire, the party of Lutfur Rahman who became mayor of Tower Hamlets in May.

Margaret Hodge is standing down from this Labour stronghold after 28 years as MP, leaving a majority of 15,427 as her legacy. The race to succeed her is a classic contest between a local favourite with a strong political track record and a business figure from outside the area who's been steadily building his profile in the party. Darren Rodwell has earned a reputation for running a competent administration as leader of Barking & Dagenham Council which has some of the most deprived areas of the UK. Likely to be his main challenger is Ibrahim Dogus, a restaurateur and Labour councillor in Lambeth who set up Small & Medium Entreprise4Labour a lobby group which is sponsoring several fringe events at this year's conference. He's a campaigner on Kurdish rights.

Politics in east London is rarely a straightforward business, and in Newham, it seems it never is. If proposed boundary changes go ahead, this new seat will come into being. However, the candidate is unlikely to be selected with the usual process. Both local constituency branches of the party - East Ham and West Ham - have been suspended for 18 months after allegations of fraud and malpractice were made against them and it is taking a long time to sort out. It means the branches can't hold meetings and don't have the usual rights to make selections. The candidate is likely to be chosen in a process organised and tightly controlled by the national party or London region. The party's National Executive Committee will decide the rules. One person likely to go for the seat is Rokshana Fiaz, the directly-elected mayor of Newham. She's currently locked in conflict with striking refuse collectors backed by Unite, and recently clashed with London's mayor Sadiq Khan over building the Silvertown tunnel. Ms Fiaz's selection as mayoral candidate for Newham in 2018 was itself the result of a left-wing move to dislodge the previous, long-standing mayor Sir Robin Wales. However, she also seems to have support for the centre of the party. One of her likely challengers is Unmesh Desai, Labour Assembly member for the area.

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