Selecting Remainer to fight Hartlepool by-election a 'terrible mistake', warn Labour MPs

Labour MPs have told Sir Keir Starmer that the party has made a "terrible mistake" by selecting an outspoken Remainer as its candidate to fight a by-election in Leave-voting Hartlepool.

The decision to select Dr Paul Williams, a family doctor and the former MP for Stockton South, has prompted a backlash from Sir Keir's hard-Left critics, who fear the Conservatives will weaponise his outspoken views on Brexit.

One pointed to tweets made by Mr Williams prior to his defeat in the 2019 election, including one in which he praised the former Labour Europhile Chris Leslie for showing "real leadership in the fight against this Tory Brexit shambles".

"He shouldn't be our candidate. It's a 70 per cent Leave seat," a former senior frontbencher told The Telegraph on Friday night.

Separately, a number of female Labour MPs, including some on the moderate wing of the party, have privately expressed frustration at the failure to put female candidates up for selection.

One prominent female MP also raised alarm at a number of Mr Williams' tweets, including one in 2011 when he referred to a discussion about Tory "milfs", a derogatory remark used to refer to mothers, branding it "frankly misogynistic".

"I think like probably all female colleagues I have significant concerns," she said. "These tweets are going to dominate the whole campaign."

On Friday night Mr Williams apologised for the remarks, which he described as "inappropriate", saying: "They were from a decade ago – which doesn't diminish the fact that they were wrong – but I want to reassure people that I wouldn't dream of making comments like this now."

It comes three days after Mike Hill (below) announced that he was stepping down as the MP for Hartlepool just weeks before an employment tribunal is to hear sexual harassment and victimisation allegations against him.

His departure has triggered a by-election in one of Labour's most vulnerable seats in what is being billed, alongside the local elections in May, as Sir Keir's first real test as the party's leader.

The decision to select Mr Williams has reignited long-held concerns among some in the party that Sir Keir will be unable to shake off the perception of Labour among "Red Wall" voters who defected to the Tories in 2019 as a Remain party.

Warning of "widespread concern" among the group of pro-Jeremy Corbyn MPs who make up the Socialist Campaign Group, a former shadow cabinet minister said: "I think it's a terrible mistake – one of a series made by people in leadership positions.

"There is quite widespread concern in the Socialist Campaign Group. But it goes beyond that. A lot of female Labour MPs are really not happy that this was a male-only list. It's a backwards step."

On Friday night, a Labour source said: "If the Tories want to spend this by-election talking about the 2016 referendum, they are welcome to. Labour is focused on the future and what matters to people in Hartlepool and across Britain – securing the economy, protecting the NHS and rebuilding the country."