A Labour candidate who’s been deselected five weeks before the election says she was a victim of a “pretty sustained campaign of bullying and undermining,” reports @BBCShropshire #GE2019
@BBCShropshire Laura Davies was told on Monday after a phone hearing by Labour’s ruling National Executive that the party wouldn’t support her candidacy – which would have been her third in the Shrewsbury & Atcham constituency.
@BBCShropshire Speaking to BBC Radio Shropshire, Dr Davies said she wasn’t expecting the decision, and says she was unaware of some of the complaints against her, which she says dated back to 2017 and were completely trivial or fabricated.
@BBCShropshire “I had the telephone interview, and then I found out I’d been deselected on Monday night – actually you guys found out before I did …. I felt I wasn’t really given a fair hearing … "
@BBCShropshire "The reasons given for my deselection were not related to the complaints that were discussed at the interview”.
@BBCShropshire Dr Davies had already lost a vote of confidence among her local party earlier this year after concerns were expressed about her stance on local hospital reorganisation. But she continued to stand as the vote had no power under party rules.
@BBCShropshire . The local party said in a statement: “"A majority of the local party had lost confidence in Laura Davies’s candidacy and the NEC has responded to this with their decision. "
@BBCShropshire "Issues with her included her failure to work with and engage with members and her refusal to support our community’s campaign to retain 24 hour A&E hospitals in Shrewsbury & Telford."
@BBCShropshire Local party statement continues: "We need real change for our country, and look forward to campaigning with a unifying new candidate who will represent the people of Shrewsbury & Atcham and win this constituency for Labour.”
A spokesperson for Shrewsbury and Atcham Constituency Labour Party said:
"A majority of the local party had lost confidence in Laura Davies' candidacy and the NEC has responded to this with their decision.’
"A majority of the local party had lost confidence in Laura Davies' candidacy and the NEC has responded to this with their decision.’
‘Issues included her failure to work with and engage with members and her refusal to support our community’s campaign to retain 24 hour A&E hospitals in Shrewsbury & Telford.’
‘We need real change for our country, and look forward to campaigning with a unifying new candidate who will represent the people of Shrewsbury and Atcham and win for Labour.”
