Labour has to avoid further Nottinghamshire fallout after 'purge' allegation

I always thought that seeing a reporter being denied access to the toilet after speaking to Rishi Sunak would be my most disappointing encounter with a leading politician. Yet that crown actually rests on a press huddle with Keir Starmer in Mansfield following Labour's victory at the East Midlands Mayor election.

The visit coincided with some rumblings in Nottingham Labour over the national party's intervention in the selection of its next leader following David Mellen's departure. Asked about the controversy, Sir Keir clearly felt that we were party pooping an event held to celebrate Claire Ward's success.

The then opposition leader offered a rather terse 25-word reply before moving on to the next journalist, totally ignoring our attempt at a follow-up question for clarity. The exchange highlighted the tension that seems to be inherent in the relationship between Keir Starmer's Labour and some of his local groups of councillors and it is a tension which has only been heightened following events this week.

Milan Radulovic, Broxtowe Borough Council's leader, began a conversation with me by saying he would have to be "careful" what he said, before proceeding to hit out at the Labour Party nationally in strong terms. A member of the party for over 40 years, Councillor Radulovic described a "centrist purge" within Labour after four of his members were banned from standing at the next Nottinghamshire County Council election.

As well as the tension at Broxtowe Labour, unrest in Nottingham has clearly not subsided either. Reacting to our story about the developments in Broxtowe, Nottingham's Councillor Kirsty Jones posted: "We need to have a variety of viewpoints representing our party for good decision-making.

"We also need to give the correct explanations for the issues people are facing and how they can be resolved to stop the growth of the far-right in elections. Solidarity with Broxtowe Labour."

Nadia Whittome, the Labour MP for Nottingham East, has also expressed concern about local groups being "disenfranchised." The Labour Party has defended its approach in regards to the blocking of candidates, arguing that it has a rigorous process for the selection of candidates.

More broadly, one of the key planks of Keir Starmer's election campaign was that Labour would bring an end to 14 years of Tory rule that saw the country occasionally being characterised by chaos, particularly under the reigns of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss.

If Sir Keir wants stability nationally, the party's actions with groups closer to home show that he also wants stability at the councils run by his party. Yet some Labour councillors will only be pushed so far and this approach may end up having unintended consequences.

Most Labour groups across Nottinghamshire are clearly causing few headaches for the party nationally and the leadership at both Nottingham and Broxtowe are more concerned with continuing what they say are their records of delivery, rather than focusing on tribal politics. Yet the barring of the four Broxtowe candidates this week seems to have ratcheted things up a notch and, as we head into crucial county council elections next May, when Labour will hope to take over the authority, it will be increasingly important that the party avoids such public ructions.