Greenwich councillor Denise Scott-McDonald has been selected to be the Labour candidate for Sevenoaks at the general election.

Scott-McDonald, a former lecturer in journalism, is cabinet member for health and social care and a former deputy leader of the council, and is also president of the Co-op’s national members council. 

The Greenwich Peninsula councillor said on social media that she was “delighted” with the selection in Kent, which comes after some years of attempting to find a seat to fight for Labour. 

In 2022 she attempted to be selected for the marginal seat of Derby North, while she was also shortlisted for Cities of London & Westminster in 2017 and Erith & Thamesmead two years later.

She will face an uphill battle to win Sevenoaks, which has been a safe Conservative seat for a century and is currently held by Laura Trott, the chief secretary to the Treasury.

Boundary changes mean the seat will stretch from Wilmington, south of Dartford, through to Westerham, taking in Swanley and Sevenoaks itself. 

A key issue will be plans for 2,500 new homes and a possible rugby stadium for Wasps at Pedham Place, a golf course just outside Swanley, which is being fought by nearby villagers.

Swanley Park looking over lake in winter
Swanley Park is in the constituency Scott-McDonald is contesting. Credit: The Greenwich Wire

At 2018’s Greenwich council election Scott-McDonald aligned herself with opposition to the controversial Silvertown Tunnel, only to vote against a party motion the following year that would have reversed Greenwich’s long-held support of the scheme.

In the same year she also dismissed calls to make Greenwich carbon-neutral by 2030 – before suddenly reversing her position and announcing a plan to declare a climate emergency.

Scott-McDonald is the second Greenwich councillor to be selected for a Labour seat, In 2022 West Thamesmead councillor Chris Lloyd was selected for North Swindon, but quit a few weeks later citing an excessive workload. Lloyd resigned from Labour in December after accusing the party of not dealing with alleged homophobic comments made by a fellow councillor.

Lauren Dingsdale, who represents Eltham Town & Avery Hill, made an unsuccessful attempt to be selected for Beckenham & Penge while Nas Asghar lost out in her campaign to win the nomination for Coventry East.