In an article in the Yorkshire Post members of the Calder branch of the Labour Party are alleging postal voting irregularities including that Mrs. Booth’s supporters directly helped party members to fill in their postal voting papers.

Of the votes 95 cast for Mrs. Booth in the selection, 73 were postal votes.

Of the 52 votes cast for Cllr. Susan Press, 17 were postal votes.

The other votes were made in person at the hustings on April 9th.

Effectively; the selection of Steph Booth was a done deal before the hustings began.

It could be that Mrs. Booth fought a better all-round campaign or, as suggested by some local Labour Party members, it could be a little more sinister.

This latest episode comes on the back of the Labour Party NEC’s ousting of the previous Labour candidate, Janet Oosthuysen, for receiving a police caution for scratching an ex-partner’s car. Janet narrowly beat Steph Booth by a handful of votes last July.

This could well be a space that needs to be watched.