Laura Pidcock: Corbyn ally tipped for the top turfed out of Labour stronghold

Laura Pidcock’s tenure as Labour MP in the party heartland of North West Durham was brief, but it was not without impact.

She was able to endear herself to party hardliners with her outspoken views on the Conservatives – though her appeal among the constituency as a whole had less impact.

Soon after her election in 2017, Ms Pidcock said she had “absolutely no intention of being friends with any” female Tory MPs.

She said at the time: “The idea that they are not the enemy is simply delusional when you see the effect they have on people.”

Ms Pidcock, who previously worked for campaign group Show Racism The Red Card, was recently tipped as a successor to deputy Labour leader Tom Watson and is a long-term ally to Jeremy Corbyn.

Her maiden speech criticising Commons traditions and hitting out at inequality was widely shared, while she has also spoken out about the environment – particularly since she became a mother in 2018.

But the 32-year-old, who was the shadow employment rights secretary going into the election, now holds the distinction of being the first Labour MP to lose the Brexit-supporting North West Durham constituency to “the enemy” since it was recreated in 1950.