Sam Tarry was sacked after appearing on
(Picture: PA)Labour’s Sam Tarry will face a reselection battle in his east London parliamentary seat on Friday when nominations open for the party’s candidates to fight the next election.
Supporters of the Ilford South MP have suggested the reselection process has been fast-tracked to be completed before the party’s annual conference next month out of “revenge”.
It comes after he was sacked as a shadow transport minister in July following his support for striking RMT workers on a picket line.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the Corbynite MP was removed from the frontbench role for making up policy “on the hoof” in unauthorised TV interviews.
Mr Tarry, the partner of Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner, will automatically be one of the candidates to stand but will face at least one rival.
Jas Athwal, leader of Redbridge Council, confirmed he would be putting his name forward to replace Mr Tarry at the next election.
He told the Standard: “We’ll be running an honest campaign concentrating on our track record.”
The reselection process was triggered when all 10 local Labour branches in Ilford South voted for a new contest.
But Mr Tarry and his supporters claim the process was rigged.
He said he had submitted evidence of “rule-breaking, voter fraud... and the dangerous whipping up of community tensions to undermine the democratic reselection process”.
Some union supporters are understood to have tried to stop Labour’s national executive approving the reselection, but the decision was passed by a majority earlier this week.
The process will last several weeks and if Mr Tarry is deselected it is feared it could further deepen divisions between the leadership and MPs on the left of the party.
Fellow Corbynite MP Apsana Begun also faces a reselection battle in Poplar and Limehouse.
Mr Tarry said: "Ilford South needs a Labour MP who stands with striking workers, defends their jobs, and who will fight for universal public services to be funded by taxing the rich.
"Ilford needs an MP proud to stand up for workers in parliament - as I always will."
