A FORMER council leader believed to have had links with Militant has been chosen by the Labour party to run for a seat in May's elections - after she reportedly "Skyped" into the selection meeting from her holiday in America.

Yvonne Nolan, who was leader of Wirral Council back in the 1980s and is alleged to have had links to the former hard-left Militant movement, will stand in the Rock Ferry ward next spring after ousting a member who’s held her seat for over 25 years.

Cllr Chris Meaden, who lost her selection to Ms Nolan on Wednesday evening, said she was “very hurt” at the decision taken by Labour members, after losing the vote by 14 to 11.

She said: “I think what hurts most is that when I was elected in 2015, the people of Rock Ferry voted for me with 3,767 votes.

“That was taken away by 14 votes last night. Some of the people who voted last night have been members of the party for years. Others only joined in the last few years.

“If all the residents of Rock Ferry voted me out that would mean I haven’t done a good job. But that’s not the case. I will get over it but I have got a lot of thinking to do.”

Cllr Meaden is the latest in a list of recent casualties for the ‘centrists’ of the borough’s Labour group, with her de-selection following fellow ward Cllr Moira McLaughlin’s announcement earlier on Thursday she was quitting, blaming a “hard-left clique of un-elected Labour party officials.”

That’s alongside the recent news Cllr Phil Davies will stand down in May, Cllr Mike Sullivan having become an independent, and Birkenhead MP Frank Field resigning the party whip.

Cllr Meaden added: “It’s not the Labour party I know. It’s changing, and I don’t think it’s for the better.”

She has been a member of the Labour party for 44 years, and a councillor for 28, and added: “It’s just ridiculous. People are asking ‘why?’ and they didn’t really give me a reason. They didn’t tell me what I have done wrong.

“I would like to thank my two fellow ward councillors and all of the residents of Rock Ferry and remind them I am still here until May. If they need me, they know where I am.

“I was very lucky – I was the mayor of Wirral between 2005 and 2006 – what better thing could happen to someone? I will walk away from this with my head held high. I am very proud of what I have achieved.”

Ms Nolan’s victory last night confirms her return to politics after leading the council in the 1980s – the same time Militant were represented on the council in Liverpool.

Ms Nolan lost her seat in 1991 after a spell that saw her district party suspended by the then NEC.

Speaking on Thursday morning, a senior Labour source said: "It's safe to say, just like in the 1980s, the Militant tendency has once again reared its head on Merseyside."

When contacted for comment, Ms Nolan said: "I am honoured to have been selected by Rock Ferry Branch to represent them at the local elections in May 2019 and I am very much looking forward to working with local members on planning the campaign.

"I did indeed use modern communications and Skyped into the meeting."

She said she was sure Cllr Meaden's "long service and hard work is appreciated", adding: "I wish her well.

"I hope that we can now move forward into the next local elections and get on with the job of fighting the Tories.”

Wirral Council Conservative leader Cllr Ian Lewis said the Labour party was “splitting down the middle [with members] too busy fighting each other.”

He added: “Many people in Wirral will remember what it was like the last time Yvonne Nolan had a seat in the council chamber. They will shudder at the thought of her making a comeback.

“We don’t forget the months, and years, of constant, fruitless, confrontation and a campaign that resulted in more than £12m of council income being written off.

“The fact that Wirral Labour has chosen to return to those days proves that those who have resigned have done the right thing – they haven’t left Labour, the traditional, moderate, sensible Labour party has left them.”

Responding to Cllr Lewis' words, which she described as "a bit rich", Ms Nolan said the Tories were "more than split".

She added: "We have much work to do to protect our local NHS, save our walk in centres, protect our local services from cuts and balance a very precarious budget.

"Let’s discuss those issues, voters want to know what we are going to do now, and in the future not re-hash old battles of the past."

Revealing the news of her resignation from the party on Thursday, Cllr McLaughlin said she now fears for the Labour group’s future after all four constituency parties were “taken over” by the left.

She said: “The move [to the left] is to change the status of a Labour councillor from one of a person who is elected by their constituents to serve them with honest Labour values to one of a mere delegate, controlled by a hard-left clique of un-elected Labour party officials, driven by their rigid and unrealistic ideology in their distorted version of democracy – an ideology which is not shared by the communities we are elected to serve.”

Wirral Labour’s local campaign forum was also contacted for comment.