LABOUR yesterday selected a rising star to fight the key battleground seat of Liverpool Wavertree.
Luciana Berger, director of Labour Friends of Israel, beat Liverpool Councillor Wendy Simon and Joyce Still by a margin of around 2-1 to win the candidacy from an all women short list.
The selection was sparked after former minister Jane Kennedy announced in November she was standing down after representing the constituency since 1992.
The seat is the Liberal Democrats’ number one target in the North West and will be the key battleground in Liverpool.
Last night the Wavertree Labour Party said Miss Berger would bring fresh leadership and enthusiasm.
Miss Berger, 28,Šoriginally from Wembley, is regarded as a future star in the party.
She hit the headlines in 2005 after resigning from the national executive committee of the National Union of Students because of “continued apathy” to the suffering of Jewish students.
She had been selected to stand in a Labour ward in Camden Council.
Last night she said she will no longer be standing in Camden and will also hand over the day-to-day running of Labour Friends of Israel. Miss Berger, a keen runner and a film buff, previously worked for the Commission for Racial Equality, management consultants Accenture, and the NHS Confederation.
