Labour in move to end candidate row

Labour chiefs look set to end the bitter legal dispute over their candidate for the Swindon North constituency today by appointing a special panel to interview the final shortlist again.

The move comes despite an attempt to force a re-run of the voting by the man defeated in the original ballot for Labour's candidate for the seat at the next general election.

Jim D'Avila, a Rover factory convener who is backed by the Amalgamated, Engineering and Electrical Union, took legal action in an attempt to win a fresh ballot after he was beaten by television producer Michael Wills, a friend of shadow Chancellor Gordon Brown.

A Labour Party report into the selection process for the Wiltshire marginal seat found that there may have been tampering with the votes in a "fundamentally flawed" procedure.

Last month, a High Court judge urged Labour to reconsider its decision not to hold a fresh ballot, but upheld the party's right to impose a candidate. Party sources expect that members of the ruling National Executive Committee will accept a proposal that a panel should interview the final shortlist of candidates once more.