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Labour target list reveals it fought to stop Luciana Berger but ditched Ruth Smeeth

Ms Smeeth says list 'further confirms the incompetence at the highest levels of the Labour Party'

December 22, 2019 09:35
The Sunday Times reported the list was drawn up in part by Jeremy Corbyn's close aide Karie Murphy
1 min read

Labour poured resources into fighting Luciana Berger's bid to be MP for Finchley and Golders Green - but did not prioritise defending Ruth Smeeth's seat, it has been revealed.

In what The Sunday Times called "vindictive internal politics", it revealed Jeremy Corbyn's aides, Seumas Milne and Karie Murphy drew up a list of 86 constituencies to focus resources on.

The list included the seat where Ms Berger was vying to be elected as a Lib Dem, after quitting Labour over antisemitic bullying and abuse, despite the fact most polls for the constiteuncy, including one for the JC, were correctly forecasting Labour would come third behind Ms Berger and Conservative Mike Freer.

Mr Freer won with an 6,562-majority over Ms Berger, triple the amount by which he beat Labour in 2017.