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Jeremy Corbyn ally loses bid to become Watford parliamentary candidate following acrimonious selection battle
A Momentum and Unite union-backed candidate with close ties to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has lost the acrimonious selection battle to become the parliamentary candidate for Watford.
Taxi driver Mike Hedges came a distant second to local candidate Chris Ostrowski at a meeting of more than 300 Watford Labour members on Tuesday night.
The Telegraph understands Mr Ostrowski won with a decisive majority of over 70 per cent, meaning voting did not need to go to a second round. Mr Hedges garnered 26 per cent of the vote and two other candidates both polled in single digits.
Following the hustings, Mr Ostrowski, who stood as the Watford Labour candidate in the snap election, said: “I am humbled by the huge support I have received in this contest.
“We are now united and the Watford Labour Party is campaigning on full throttle as there could be a General Election any time.”
The result follows a heated selection tussle between local party members and Momentum and Unite, which has been dogged by accusations of “rigging” and postal vote “irregularities”.
Watford became a key Labour target seat for the next election after the majority of its Conservative MP, Richard Harrington, was reduced from 10,000 to just over 2,000 in June.
Mr Hedges, a Unite member from Islington in London, started campaigning in Watford a few months before the selection hustings and was endorsed as the local Momentum candidate.
Mr Hedges, who was backed by seven other unions as well as Unite, has close connections to Mr Corbyn and ferried him around in his cab during the 2015 Labour leadership contest.
His partner Jayne Fisher, is a former Sinn Fein member of staff who has previously worked in Mr Corbyn’s office.
Mr Hedges, the chairman of Unite’s London and Eastern Political Committee, was also endorsed by senior members of the Shadow Cabinet including Shadow Home Secretary, Diane Abbott, and Shadow First Secretary of State, Emily Thornberry.
The Watford selection battle became embittered after Mr Hedges was imposed on the constituency shortlist by Labour’s ruling National Executive committee in November after being rejected by the local selection panel.
The NEC made the decision after receiving a letter from Unite complaining that the local party had not given Mr Hedges’ union backing “full consideration”.
The decision led to members of the Watford party accusing the union of “rigging” its selection process to ensure Mr Hedges made it onto the shortlist.
The selection hustings was then suspended and pushed back from December until January after complaints from Mr Hedges’ camp about “irregularities” with the postal ballot.
Following Tuesday’s vote, Unite, which is one of Labour’s biggest financial backers, said it would accept the result.
A Unite spokesman said: “This was always about giving Watford CLP members a choice. With Mike coming second, far ahead of the other losing candidates, it was right that he was on the ballot paper.
“Unite now looks forward to working with Labour members in Watford to getting their chosen candidate elected and delivering a Corbyn Labour government.”