Ian Murray MP is re-selected to defend seat in Edinburgh South

Edinburgh South Labour MP Ian Murray has been re-selected to defend his seat in the upcoming general election after an attempt to oust him by the UK's biggest union.

Unite had moved to deselectIan Murrayclaiming he had "consistently undermined" the party leadership.

Unite attempted to force Mr Murray into a full re-selection contest at a constituency meeting on Thursday evening. But members and trade unionists overwhelmingly rejected a selection contest.

There were a total of 158 member votes in favour of re-selecting Mr Murray to 13 votes against.

Unions GMB, Unison, Usdaw, Community and Co-op also supported him.

Unite was the only union to vote for re-selection, while CWU did not return a vote.

Mr Murray said: "It is a huge honour to have been re-selected as Labour's candidate in Edinburgh South for the forthcoming general election." He added: "I would not have become the MP in 2010 and certainly would not have held on in 2015 and ended up with the largest majority in Scotland in 2017 if it wasn't for the hardworking and committed local Labour Party activists.

"I am grateful for their continued support and the support of the overwhelming majority of trade unions."

Unite had moved to deselect Murray claiming he had "consistently undermined" the party leadership.

But all four party branches in the constituency overwhelmingly voted to re-select him and none of the other unions or affiliates backed the Unite move.