Liverpool Labour MP Ian Byrne faces reselection battle

A Labour MP is facing a battle to be reselected as the party's candidate at the next general election.

Ian Byrne has represented West Derby in Liverpool since 2019, but will have to compete against other candidates after losing a series of votes in local constituency branches.

The Labour Party is advertising for interested candidates to apply by 20 October.

Mr Byrne said he was "disappointed" but would seek reselection.

In a statement he said he would try retain his candidacy and "continue to speak up for those denied a voice".

Mr Byrne was selected to replace the previous Labour MP Stephen Twigg, in what became a fractious selection contest in early 2019.

At the time of his selection, Mr Byrne was a local ward councillor in Everton and was a vocal supporter of party leader Jeremy Corbyn.

There was a split amongst local party members, many of whom were angry that other long-serving local Labour councillors and activists hadn't made the long list for the vacancy.

In the final ballot of local members, it is understood Ian Byrne beat Angela Coleman by just two votes.

Mr Byrne is a member of the Socialist Campaign Group of backbench Labour MPs.

He is a familiar face on match days on Merseyside, collecting donations for the charity he set up, Fans Supporting Foodbanks.

In parliament he has campaigned for a right to food to be established in law, and for the lessons learned from the Hillsborough disaster to be added to the national curriculum.

He won the Patchwork Foundation's MP of the Year accolade.

But this trigger ballot reveals dissatisfaction among Labour members in West Derby.

He said: "It has always been my passion to speak up for those denied a voice and I want to go on campaigning to abolish hunger and bring in a legal right to food.

"There can be no more important task for those who seek to represent others. My work has only just begun and there is still so much to do."

After any new applicants are shortlisted, West Derby Constituency Party members will vote for their chosen candidate.

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