Election boss who blasted boundary review tried to stand for Labour
An ‘independent’ campaigner who criticised the boundary review that could scrap key Labour seats has herself tried to run in four Labour areas.
Katie Ghose, chief executive of the electoral Reform Society, said the changes, which will see the number of seats cut from 650 to 600, are unfair.
But despite claims she is an independent observer, Miss Ghose has in fact put herself forward as a Labour candidate in Stoke-on-trent north, Brighton Kemptown, Grimsby and York – prompting allegations of hypocrisy from tory Mps.
She has never been selected, and the boundary review will make it much less likely that she ever will be.
it came as Jeremy Corbyn said that inner-city seats such as his islington north constituency – which could be axed under the review – could not be expected to be the same size as rural ones, because urban voters had more complex problems.
the Boundary Commission for england is proposing to reduce the number of constituencies in order to make them roughly the same size for the first time.
Other high profile Mps who face losing their seats include George Osborne, priti patel and david davis.
experts said the changes would disadvantage Labour, with one analysis show-
‘Be open about her affiliation’
ing that, on current polls, the party would fall below 200 seats for the first time since the 1920s. electoral Calculus said theresa May would be on course to win the 2020 election with a majority of around 100, with the tories gaining 349 seats compared with just 176 for Labour.
When the changes were announced yesterday, Miss Ghose said they were unfair because they were based on outof-date electoral rolls.
‘Areas with the lowest levels of registration are often those that already have the lease voice in politics,’ she said. ‘Young people, some ethnic minority groups and those in the private rented sector are all less likely to register to vote than others. that makes many of them effectively cut out of the new political map.’
However the former aide to Lord Janner did not mention her previous attempts to become a Labour candidate.
Last night Conservative Mp Andrew Bridgen said: ‘there is more than a whiff of hypocrisy in these comments from a serial carpet-bagger candidate.’ Bernard Jenkin, tory chairman of the Commons public administration committee, also criticised Miss Ghose.
He said: ‘We know the present distribution of seats creates disproportionate representation for Labour Mps compared to the number of votes polled.
‘She is entitled to her views but she shouldn’t be using a charity as a platform for them.’
Mp philip davies added: ‘ She is masquerading as being independent when she is anything but inde- pendent ... she should be open about her clear affiliation.’
Meanwhile, as he fought to keep his north London seat – one of the country’s smallest by area – Mr Corbyn argued that inner-city constituencies should be smaller than rural ones because of such voters’ complex needs.
the review recommended islington north be carved up among its neighbours, pitching him into a selection battle with his ally diane Abbott, who represents a nearby seat. Mr Corbyn said: ‘ i’m very unhappy about the size of the new constituency that has been put forward. Multiple- needs areas, such as i represent, don’t need to be too big.
‘they need to be places where Mps can represent them properly, just like anywhere else in the country.’
But one of Mr Corbyn’s Left-wing supporters said he should take the opportunity to purge the party of Mps who stood against him.
Councillor darren Williams, a member of Labour’s NEC ruling body, told Radio 4’ s today programme: ‘ Redrawing the boundaries does present an opportunity for the selection of some new candidates.
‘Where Mps have consistently demonstrated their disloyalty to the party leader ...then i think party members are within their rights to ask whether those Mps should continue to represent them.’
But appearing on the same programme, shadow minister Jon Ashworth said: ‘that is not the position of Jeremy or his people. We’ve got a very clear process for dealing with these boundary changes.’
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