Labour picks candidate for Sedgefield

Sedgefield
The race to succeed Tony Blair as Labour's candidate for the Sedgefield by-election ended tonight when local party members selected Phil Wilson.

Mr Wilson will stand as the party's candidate in the July 19 by-election in what is considered a safe Labour seat.

The by-election was called after Mr Blair quit Parliament to take up a new role as a peace envoy in the Middle East.

Hundreds of local labour party members selected from a short-list of candidates at a meeting held in Trimdon Labour Club tonight.

A spokesman for the Labour Party said Mr Wilson secured a “comfortable margin'” in the selection process.

Mr Wilson runs a public relations company and is a former Labour aide who has built up a strong local profile.

The constituency stretches from the outskirts of Durham City in the North and surrounds the town of Darlington on three sides in the South.

FT.com