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Political parties are currently putting forward candidates ahead of a General Election which is expected next year.

But Broxtowe Labour said their choice of a local candidate had been “blocked” by Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee.

Coun Greg Marshall, Broxtowe Council member for Beeston West and Broxtowe Labour Group deputy leader, missed out on the longlist and said he felt “huge disappointment”.

Coun Greg Marshall. He is disappointed to miss out on the shortlist to be Labour's parliamentary candidate for Broxtowe, having been beaten at the last two general elections.

Coun Teresa Cullen, Broxtowe Labour executive committee chairman, said it was “upsetting” a local candidate was not put forward and added the committee “feel like we have been stitched up”.

A Labour Party spokesman said “robust due diligence processes” had been used to select the shortlist candidates.

Conservative Darren Henry is currently Broxtowe’s MP.

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The Broxtowe Labour selection committee released a statement saying they were resigning from the process, with the Broxtowe Labour executive committee releasing its own statement saying it resigned from all officer positions and claimed the NEC had “purposely blocked local councillor Greg Marshall”.

Hopeful candidates must first get onto a longlist, selected by Labour’s National Executive Committee. A shortlist is then provided before constituency members pick their candidate.

But Coun Cullen said the NEC provided a longlist of only three candidates – excluding Coun Marshall, who unsuccessfully stood as the Labour candidate in 2017, finishing second to Conservative Anna Soubry by just 863 votes, and 2019, when he finished second to Mr Henry, 5,331 votes behind.

It is understood the three shortlisted candidates are Juliet Campbell, Jamie McMahon and Anna-Joy Rickard.

Coun Cullen said: “This is imposing a candidate on us.

“We had an emergency meeting in the executive committee and there was collective heartbreak.

“We couldn’t be treated this way and we don’t have to be so we resigned as a committee. Everybody felt like they didn’t want to continue.”

Coun Cullen said she has been a member of the Labour party for almost 40 years and has “never witnessed this locally”.

She said: “It was astonishing and a feeling of absolute powerlessness.

“We have run a consistent campaign about Mr Henry not being local and now we are in the same boat. It’s embarrassing and humiliating.”

Councillor’s upset over Labour ‘imposing’ election candidates on Broxtowe