The selection of Simon Lightwood comes after local members criticised the way candidates were chosen.
Labour has selected its candidate for the Wakefield by-election prompted by Tory MP Imran Ahmad Khan's resignation after his sexual assault conviction.
However, the executive committee which runs the local Labour Party walked out of the final selection meeting.after objecting to the way the final two candidates had been shortlisted. The seat is seen as a key target for Labour, which had held it for more than 87 years before the Conservatives won it in 2019 with a majority of 3,358.Mr Lightwood, a member of Labour's National Policy Forum, had been shortlisted alongside Kate Dearden, who works for trade union Community."Twenty years ago I joined the Labour Party here in Wakefield, and for 10 years I lived, studied and worked in this great city," he said.
At the hustings today, Wakefield's outgoing executive committee walked out, saying in a statement it "could not support the unfair and anti-democratic selection process" imposed on party members.
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