Labour's Scary Candidate List
John Cryer (Leyton and Wanstead) Whatever it is, he’s against it. As an MP between 1997 and 2005, he voted against his own government more than 80 times, rebelling on the Iraq war, university fees and benefits cuts. He previously worked for the Morning Star, the communist-linked newspaper, and is now political officer of Unite, the BA strike union.
Jack Dromey (Birmingham Erdington) Harriet Harman’s husband is deputy general secretary of the increasingly militant Unite. Came to prominence as the organiser of the year-long strike at the Grunwick film processing laboratories in the 1970s, a dispute marred by violent clashes. Replaces Sion Simon, once a political columnist for the Tory-supporting Daily Telegraph.
Ian Lavery (Wansbeck) President of the hard-line National Union of Mineworkers. During the miners’ strike he was arrested half a dozen times. Replaces Denis Murphy, a generally loyal former coalminer who campaigned on local issues.
Teresa Pearce (Erith and Thamesmead) A member of the Grassroots Alliance — “committed to redistributing wealth, income and power from the few to the many” — beat Georgia Gould, daughter of Tony Blair’s pollster Phillip Gould, to secure the nomination. Describes herself as a “left-wing activist” on her Twitter page.
Chuka Umunna (Streatham) May dress and sound like a Blairite, but do not be fooled. He sits on the management committee of Compass, the left-wing group that has called for a renationalisation of the railways and a ban on all outdoor advertising. Replaces Keith Hill, a moderate former minister.
Lillian Greenwood (Nottingham South) Greenwood, an official for Unison, the public services union, and a member of the left-wing Compass group, describes herself as a campaigner for “workers’ rights”.
Yasmin Qureshi (Bolton South East) Adviser to Ken Livingstone, former mayor of London, Qureshi stood unsuccessfully in his former seat of Brent East in 2005, when the human rights lawyer launched a strong attack on the Iraq war.
Nancy Platts (Brighton Pavilion) A former official for the TSSA transport union, she was selected after playing up her opposition to the Iraq war, identity cards and privatisation, which won her plaudits in the hard left Morning Star newspaper.
