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Angry scenes at shortlist meeting
A selection row has rocked the search for Labour's choice of the next Wigan MP.
There were angry scenes at the weekend's Wigan Constituency Labour Party (CLP) meeting after local woman Emma McGurrin failed to make the final list of six Labour hopefuls fighting to replace Neil Turner.
Her supporters will meet this week to discuss making a formal objection to the General Secretary of the Labour Party.
They erupted into noisy chanting when the result was announced and a number walked out.
Miss McGurrin, cousin of Sky News presenter Kay Burley, declined to comment on the outcome but Wigan Labour Party said claims about irregularities had "no substance".
She is now known to have been invited to apply for the Makerfield seat, which is also going begging after Ian McCartney's surprise decision to stand down.
As we went to press eight other candidates have come forward, but Miss McGurrin remains the sole 'local' choice so far.
The six-strong group chosen to fight the Wigan seat for Labour are: Metro cabinet member for children and young people Coun Susan Loudon; former Government Asylum and Immigration Minister Barbara Roche; policy advisor for the charity Children's Society Lisa Nandy; Liverpool City Council member and full-time party worker Roz Gladden; East Midlands Development Agency member and former European Parliament candidate in 2004 Elizabeth Donnelly and Hackney Labour councillor Nargis Khan.
Miss McGurrin's supporters allege that some Wigan Labour members were turned away because of a supposed lack of space to accommodate them in Hallgate's Unite office venue.
They say the doors were locked against voters gaining entry BEFORE the meeting start deadline.
One furious Wigan CLP member who did attend the meeting said: "The meeting was moved from The Deanery High – which obviously has loads of room – to the Unite office, which doesn't.
"Officials decided there was no more room and locked the doors before we were due to start, leaving supporters out in the cold.
"When the result was announced people couldn't believe it. There was booing and people broke into a round of chants for 'McGurrin, McGurrin' before there was a mass walkout. It just wasn't right."
Makerfield CLP applications close this Thursday. Members name their six-strong panel on January 23.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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