THREE sitting Labour councillors have been axed for next year’s elections so far, and replaced by candidates backed by far-left group Momentum.

Councillors Daniel Chapman, Anne Meadows and Adrian Morris are on the scrapheap after Brighton and Hove Momentum urged its members to vote for pro-Corbyn candidates to stand in the city council elections in May.

Momentum, which has about 2,000 local supporters and members, has been posting lists of socialist candidates’ names on social media and sending them out to members.

In the process, a source who wishes to remain anonymous, said it is “targeting sitting Labour councillors for deselection”.

Cllr Chapman and Cllr Morris, who represent Queen’s Park, were replaced with three Momentum-backed candidates.

Cllr Meadows, who is also chairwoman of the housing committee, has held her position since 2003, but was deselected at the candidate selection meeting for Moulsecoomb and Bevendean on Monday evening.

Council leader Daniel Yates was reselected in the ward, and joining him are Kate Knight, who is Momentum-backed and Amanda-Jane Grimshaw, who works as a guide at the Royal Pavilion and is a GMB union learning representative.

Peter Kyle, Labour MP for Hove and Portslade, said: “In the history of politics, deselection is something that happens in exceptional circumstances and centred on failure of conduct or a failure to hold up standards.

“It seems to be happening now simply because a faction has made promises to so many people that they have to push others out simply to make room regardless of the wasted talent or broken trust with the community we seek to represent.”

But Labour MP for Kemptown Lloyd Russell-Moyle disagrees, saying: “It is always a great shame when a sitting councillor is not reselected, but it is not out of the ordinary for sitting councillors not to be reselected, these things happen.

“It would be strange if most of our candidates didn’t back Jeremy Corbyn, he’s the leader of the party they want to represent.”

“I think it’s amazing what we’ve seen in Moulsecoomb and Bevendean. One councillor has been reselected, one is Momentum-backed and one is from the unions.

“But I feel for Anne, who has undoubtedly done good work in terms of building housing.”

The Argus’s anonymous source said: “We will have a mixture of mainstream Labour candidates and Momentum candidates all under the same Labour banner, but with a recent history of abuse and attack between themselves. Not exactly a recipe for electoral success next year.”