POLITICAL columns are all mostly the same; criticising the sitting MP/opposition party and praising one’s own party as the best choice for right minded people.

Well, this one is a little different as this is the back story about how candidates are chosen. It is often said that if you are interested in sausages or politics then it’s best not to know how either is made.

Copeland Labour Party has started the selection of their candidate for the next parliamentary elections, organised by the central party structure.

The winner will not only be Copeland’s Labour Candidate but also the candidate for the new Workington/Whitehaven constituency and probably, if the polls are to be believed, our next MP.

Unfortunately, Workington members have been denied a vote as they are not in the existing Copeland constituency. Whoever wins in Copeland will be imposed on them.

Worse still is that the Labour Party central office has excluded one of the strongest local candidates who was most likely to win the Parliamentary selection, Cllr Joe Ghayouba.

What is going on? It seems that our national party must have something in mind and maybe a candidate they want to put in place.

READ MORE: Process to select next parliamentary candidate is an 'absolute farce' says member

READ MORE: Prospective Labour candidate asks members to ignore attempts to 'derail' selection

It’s now clear to anyone with an objective view that the Copeland Parliamentary Selection process has been unjustly influenced by the out-of-touch Labour leadership and their allies on the party’s National Executive Committee, who clearly understand nothing about our community in Cumbria — and care even less.

Following this, local councillor and former parliamentary candidate Gillian Troughton withdrew from the contest, citing concerns regarding the possible mis-use of party members’ personal details by another candidate.

This was closely followed by the withdrawal of Thomas Doherty who was runner up in the last selection.

The frontrunner, and Labour Leadership favourite, Josh MacAlister, has responded by wringing his hands and pretending that he can do nothing about this situation, from which he has clearly benefited.

If MacAlister is selected as the Parliamentary Candidate for Copeland it will be solely because the process has been unfairly and unjustly manipulated by a Labour leadership far removed from the concerns of West Cumbrians.

Beyond democracy and the rights of Labour members in west Cumbria, this matters because we need a candidate who will put west Cumbria first, not be the yes man of bureaucrats in London.