Rwendland, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
The incumbent MP for Salford and Eccles, Rebecca Long-Bailey, has been unanimously reselected to represent the Constituency Labour Party (CLP).
Long-Bailey made a statement via Twitter last night:
“To once again have the trust of members, Trade Unions and affiliates to be their representative in parliament is truly humbling.”
Thank you ✊🌹 pic.twitter.com/F4eik4n5Ga
— Rebecca Long-Bailey (@RLong_Bailey) February 14, 2022
The reselection process, known as a ‘trigger ballot’, requires a democratic vote from the CLP members and Trade Unions to decide one of two options: If they are happy with their MP’s performance they can vote to let them stand again without having to face other challengers, often dubbed ‘passing the trigger’.
Alternatively, if they are unhappy, the MP’s seat will be contested with other Labour party members looking to represent the constituency, known as ‘failing the trigger’. If the incumbent loses this vote they have been deselected.
Currently, no Labour MPs have been deselected under leader Sir Kier Starmer.
Credit: Rwendland
In June 2020, Starmer sacked Long-Bailey as Shadow Education Secretary following her tweet of an article that suggested the US police tactic of kneeling on someone’s neck was imported from the Israeli secret service. Long-Bailey said she didn’t endorse “all aspects of the article”.
Long-Bailey was Starmer’s main challenger in the Leadership contest following Corbyn’s resignation as Labour leader in 2019. She came second behind Starmer with a 28% share of the vote, compared to Starmer’s 56%.
She has represented the Labour Party constituency of Salford and Eccles for nearly 7 years since the 2015 general election, winning a 56.8% majority in 2019.
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