General Election ones to watch: Newington’s focus on the rising stars across the political spectrum. This week, Newington's Victoria McNish looks at Jo Platt, the Labour candidate for Leigh.

Nominated as the Labour Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Leigh, Jo Platt is likely to become a new face on the Commons benches as MP for this historic Labour stronghold. If elected, she would be the first female MP to represent this constituency.

Her selection comes after Andy Burnham, who had been MP for Leigh since 2005, stood down in his bid to become Mayor of Greater Manchester. With her predecessor having had a majority of more than 14,000, it would come as something of a shock for Platt not to win this seat – even in light of the Conservatives’ lead in the national polls.

Platt is currently a Councillor for Wigan Council and the cabinet member for children and young people services. She also is a former aide to Burnham himself. Locally, she has worked to tackle gang violence, racial abuse, and assess the impact of welfare reforms; all causes she’s likely to fight hard for if elected.

The nomination was not a straight forward race for Platt who was up against a number of other prominent figures, the most notable being Katy Clark, a former Scottish MP and political secretary to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. This caused some controversy, with the Leader of Wigan Council accusing Corbyn's team of engaging in “old-school politics”; parachuting in their preferred candidate and ignoring the preferences of the local Labour party. Clark later pulled out of the race last minute.

The selection of a pro-Burnham rather than a pro-Corbyn candidate is significant: Burnham ran against Corbyn in the 2015 Labour leadership election espousing a more centrist form of Labour politics. Platt’s nomination also received backing from Burnham, who claimed that she was “the driving force behind the reinvigoration of Leigh Labour party in recent years”.

Should the opportunity for another leadership election arise, the political leanings of new Labour MPs may influence the future direction of the Party. According to Labour party rules, a candidate would need backing by 15% of the Party’s MPs and MEPs to get on the ballot paper, and the more centrist Labour MPs that sit on the benches the harder it may prove for another left-wing leader to take hold of the Party in the future.