Ricky Tomlinson, the Royle Family actor, is planning to run for parliament in protest at Labour's decision to "parachute" a 28-year-old Londoner into his local seat. Luciana Berger was selected as the next Labour candidate for Liverpool Wavertree despite having few connections with the city, to the outrage of party activists.
Miss Berger, a friend of Tony Blair's eldest son Euan, has admitted in newspaper interviews that she is unaware of Bill Shankly – Liverpool FC's most celebrated manager – and does not know who performed local anthem Ferry Across the Mersey.
Tomlinson, 70, said that he may give up acting to run against Miss Wavertree at the general election for the hard-left Socialist Labour Party. "If I get nominated, it would be an awful cut in wages. But I just think the state of British politics is abhorrent," he said.
"I just can't understand why they have picked someone from London. It just does not make sense to me."
He accused the Labour Party of overlooking local working class politicians in favour of candidates approved by central office. "People say ... you could be letting the Tories in. But there is no difference between the Conservatives and new Labour," he said.
Tomlinson has a long record as a left-wing political activist. In 1973 he was jailed jailed for conspiracy to intimidate building workers who refused to go out on strike. Documents released five years ago revealed that he was monitored by Special Branch in the 1970s. In one file he was described as "a subversive... and a political thug".
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