The son of Keir Starmer’s new chief of staff has announced his plans to try to become the Labour MP for a winnable seat. Liam Conlon, Sue Gray’s son, is running in one of south London’s newest constituencies, Beckenham and Penge, created after the Boundary Commission review and thought to be a comfortable Labour win. Conlon, a Crystal Palace resident, is the vice-chair of Lewisham West and Penge CLP and chair of Labour’s Irish Society, a group formerly led by Starmer’s director of communications, Matthew Doyle. Conlon announced his candidacy on X, formerly known as Twitter. The Conservative party has selected Bob Stewart, the current MP for Beckenham, as its candidate
News of Conlon’s candidacy comes as senior Labour figures acknowledge that the diversity of prospective MPs could be better. Some are hopeful the imbalances can be rectified before the election. Gray dominated headlines after helming the investigation into Partygate and her subsequent appointment to the Labour party – which was deemed by the Conservatives to show a conflict of interest. Her final report, published in 2022, set out details of 15 events where officials variously spilled red wine on the walls of No 10, vomited, fought, used a karaoke machine and continued festivities until 4am while the rest of the country was subject to strict curbs on socialising. After honouring a six-month break between jobs, insiders have said she has hit the ground running. Thus far, 45% of Labour candidates selected for the next general election are women. The picture is a lot bleaker for black candidates, with Adam Jogee the only black male candidate selected for a winnable seat. Jogee is standing in Newcastle-under-Lyme. Within the last decade, only three minority ethnic MPs have occupied shadow portfolios for the four great offices of state: Diane Abbott, David Lammy and Lisa Nandy. Speaking to the Guardian’s Politics Weekly podcast, the mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, acknowledged that Gray had been pivotal in improving relations between his and Starmer’s teams. He said: “We’re in a good place. We’re meeting, we’re working together. There is a much better working relationship than this time last year. I appreciate it. It’s been led by Keir, but Sue Gray is making a genuine difference.” The Labour party has been approached for comment.