‘Insult to Wales’ – former Labour MP slams Starmer for imposing candidates on Welsh constituencies
A former Welsh Labour MP has slammed the party for parachuting two candidates with no connection to Wales into safe Labour seats.
Earlier today Nation.Cymru revealed that a think tank boss and a former Starmer aide have been selected as Welsh Labour general election candidates.
Think tank chief and former Labour aide Torsten Bell has been selected as Welsh Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Swansea West, while executive director of legal affairs for the Labour Party, Alex Barros-Curtis, was selected for Cardiff West.
Insult
Beth Winter, the former Welsh Labour MP for Cynon Valley, a constituency that no longer exists following Boundary Commission changes described the selections as an “insult to Wales”.
Writing on X, Ms Winter said: “In his leadership campaign, Starmer promised to end imposing candidates. He broke that promise.
“The imposition of candidates in Cardiff West & Swansea West cuts local members out of the process. It is an insult to Party members, an insult to Wales, and an affront to democracy.”
Mr Barros-Curtis led the legal and finance team working on the campaign to elect Sir Keir as the leader of the Labour Party.
In 2016 he was also a senior parliamentary assistant to Andy Burnham, who then served as the MP for Leigh, a town in greater Manchester.
The decision to select Alex Barros-Curtis as the replacement for retiring MP Kevin Brennan in Cardiff West has been greeted with anger by a member of the constituency Labour party who tipped off NationCymru about the imposition.
They described it as “the latest stitch-up”.
‘On leave’
Mr Bell is the chief executive of economic think tank the Resolution Foundation, and according to their website he is currently “on leave”.
A panel appointed by Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee (NEC) decided that he will be the party’s candidate in Swansea West on July 4.
Earlier this week it was confirmed that the seat’s incumbent MP Geraint Davies would not be standing for re-election because complaints alleging that he had sexually harassed a number of women remained unresolved.
In line with an election timetable decided by the NEC, the choice of a new candidate for Swansea West was taken out of the hands of the local constituency Labour party (CLP) and delegated to the NEC panel.
A Welsh Labour insider told us that Swansea council leader Rob Stewart was seen as the obvious local choice for the candidacy.
The insider told us: “There’s little doubt that Rob would have been the choice of the CLP if they had been making the decision. He’s widely respected as one of the best local government leaders in Wales, and when Geraint was suspended because of the allegations he was facing it was assumed Rob would be the automatic choice to be the new candidate and MP.”
The Resolution Foundation is an independent research group whose stated aim is to improve outcomes for people on low and modest incomes.
In 2022, in a report from the Resolution Foundation, Mr Bell called former prime minister Liz Truss’ mini-budget “the biggest unforced economic policy error of my lifetime”.
Mr Bell’s CV also includes working as an aide to former Labour Leader Ed Miliband and special adviser to the then-chancellor Alistair Darling when he was a Treasury civil servant.
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Won’t get fooled again…new boss same as the old boss…what a song writer PT…
Rishi Ji and Clark of Kent have a shared knack of shooting themselves in the foot…
Self-handicapping, tripping over untruths and tangled up in lies, up to their necks in elephant dung…
Sharpen your wits and your tongue Rhun, game on…
Former MP.
Her seat is abolished as one of 8 less representatives. Another stitch up to welsh representation on its own.
Kemi Badenoch is the ultimate decision maker re. UK arms to Israel…
I see Stradey Park is being reopened after being used as a prop by the Home Sec and the Home Office, so much wanton waste to pull the wool over the peoples eyes…
Political Vandalism should be against the law…
Huge respect for Beth. She’s a fantastic MP who always put constituents before party. A lesson Starmer and his Yes Men could learn well from.
If she joined PC and the Blaid put her up against one of these cuckoos she could teach Labour a lesson.
Now that’s a good idea. Her core values should appeal and her forthright approach would be a bit of fresh air for Plaid. But it’s only a wish !
Does she believe in independence?
Is it not obvious yet that they see Wales as a Province? A province they wish to convert into a county of England. Why won’t we wake up? We need no English Prince, we need no English Governor!
As someone English-born but who – initially entirely by chance – has spent a big chunk of my life living in Wales, I think the assessment which you make is pretty much ‘on the button’.
Yes you are right. All the MP’s selected by Starmer are Unionists. I think he has put them in place to fend off a possible Welsh Labour split from England. This doesn’t happen in Scotland……. Let’s hope Beth switches to Plaid:
“The imposition of candidates in Cardiff West & Swansea West cuts local members out of the process. It is an insult to Party members, an insult to Wales, and an affront to democracy.” So that is her words said, what is her actions going to be?
What do you expect – set herself on fire ?? Her patch was designed out of the picture and the selection of candidate was fixed. She will find a new patch in due course but in the meantime her opinions are valid.
I’m sure there’d be a croeso cynnes from Plaid Cymru to any former Labour members who share our values and have decided “enough is enough”.
What happened to my comment?
Teamed up with mine and ran away? Perhaps we said something…?
I’ve checked my e-mail and every comment I have made on this website has generated an approval notification, so I’m confused with no explanation.
At this moment there are 27 comments (this one is number 28) yet above the comment section it states there are 31 comments (with this one it will be 32). So there are comments missing.
We’ve not deleted any of your comments but you might have responded to a comment that has been flagged and removed.
I’ve a couple of questions about comments that get deleted.
Is it possible to delete a comment you’ve made after others have replied to it and do other comments made in response to it then automatically get deleted also?
If a comment is red flagged and removed (by Nation Cymru) do all the comments in that thread get deleted also?
Diolch.
Hi CapM. If the top comment is deleted for whatever reason all of the subsequent replies get removed too.
Diolch.
That explains a few disappearing comments!
Beth Winter, in view of her own specific circumstances, very clearly has a personal axe to grind, and I take that into account in coming to an opinion about what she’s said. And my view is to some degree influenced by the view which I take about the legitimacy of her sense of grievance. I don’t doubt that she feels a grievance that someone else was favoured over her in the aftermath of the reduction in the number of Westminster parliamentary seats in Wales. But she surely has to recognize that the local Labour membership was, as I understand it,… Read more »
We already have a fake Prince. How many fake MP’s do we need. These new MP’s are Unionists. Are they there to prevent Welsh Labour moving away?
If any person believes that Wales should be governed by a Welsh Government, democratically elected by the Welsh electorate, then it appears to me that voting Labour just doesn’t cut it. Plaid Cymru stands on that principle. If everyone who shares in that cause votes Plaid Cymru at this election, Plaid win seats, Labour and Conservatives lose seats.
Vote Plaid Cymru.
Cardiff and Swansea if you don’t like foreigners imposed and running for seats in wales don’t vote for them, if this is how head office (London branch) behave before the election what will they be like if they win, this shows how much respect they have for voters absolutely none.
I asked Beth Winter to help a family get a child out of Gaza. Like her other Labour colleagues she did not help. Just another Labour careerist with her nose temporarily pushed out of joint.
Beth is right, these decisions are an affront to democracy. Certainly shows up the notion of Welsh Labour independence as a myth. Its just the Welsh branch of the Labour party, based in Cardiff and ruled from Westminster. A party with England as its only focus.
Plaid is the only party for Wales.
Yes bang on, just like Leanne, did in Llanelli.
The Labour Party was formed, largely in south Wales, as a party of the people. This ‘stitch-up’ shows how the party has left the people who built it behind. As well as an insult, it is a slap in the face for those of us who supported Labour for many years.
Sadly, the two stitch-up candidates will likely win in those constituencies, with large majorities, due to the tribal nature of Welsh parties, and the lack of credible alternative parties.
Credible alternatives? Why not Plaid?
It’s a bloody disgrace,
I am seething.
Try St Anthony’s @lost and found; things, causes and moral compasses…