Browse Sections

• Education
• Roadworks
• Shipman
• Special reports

All-women list sparks MP row

Tom Rowley
28/11/2002

OPPOSITION is brewing among Labour ranks to a possible all-women shortlist from which party members will select a general election candidate.

Andrew Bennett has announced he will be retiring as Denton MP at the next election and Dukinfield councillor John Taylor has slammed his own party's policy of all-women shortlists for half of its vacant winnable seats. Denton and Reddish had a Labour majority of 15,330 at the last general election.

Cllr Taylor has been a Tameside councillor for 17 years. He says that while he has never wanted to be an MP, he does not think it fair that others should be denied the chance purely because they are men.

He said: "Able local candidates like Kieran Quinn, Andrew Gwynne and Jim Fitzpatrick will be stopped from putting their names forward.

"I've no problems with female candidates getting through purely on ability - we've got able female members of the council like Cath Piddington and Jacqui Forth.

"We want the best person for the job but they should be able to go through a proper selection process which involves women and men. I've spoken to other party members and they also think this all-women panel would be political correctness gone mad."

Cllr Taylor added he will be putting a motion opposing an all-women list to the next meeting of his Dukinfield ward party on December 4.

"I'll abide by the democratic will of the party and support whoever is chosen in the end. But I won't be surprised if it's challenged on human rights grounds - this government has put the Human Rights Act in place to be used," he warned.