Mo Mowlam's wish granted as female successor selected

Vera Baird, a criminal and civil liberties barrister in the chambers of Michael Mansfield QC, was chosen to succeed the former Northern Ireland Secretary, who has announced she is standing down as MP for Redcar seat at the next election.

Ms Baird won the nomination with a comfortable majority, despite an increasingly fractious selection battle, which exposed divisions within the local Labour Party.

It is understood Ms Baird secured double the number of votes of her nearest rival, Dave Anson.

She said: "I am overwhelmed. It was such a convincing win."

Earlier in the week, Ms Baird walked straight into a political storm over a letter she had written to party members and which was subsequently widely circulated, which was interpreted by some of her opponents as veiled criticism of the popular Dr Mowlam.

It referred to the constituen-cy as being at a low ebb, highlighted a lack of support for the council and called for an injection of new blood to represent the party and the electorate.

The letter provoked anger among some sections of the local Labour Party. David Walsh, leader of Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council said the letter showed a lack of knowledge of the council and the problems it faced.

But Mr Walsh said last night he would be working with Ms Baird to show her what the council is up against and how it is facing the difficulties.

He said: "I think she was chosen quite correctly and quite properly. I am sure we can work together to gain a better understanding."

Dr Mowlam, who had hinted she would like to be succeeded by a woman, could not be contacted for comment.

One of Ms Baird's first duties will be on Wednesday, when she meets the unions to discuss the problems with the steel industry, in particular the threatened job cuts and industrial action at Corus.

She said: "Redcar has not had an easy time of it economically over the past few years and there are more worrying times ahead with the steel industry.