The constituency had become a safe Labour seat under Heffer, who was known as being on the left of the party and a member of the Campaign Group.

The Trotskyist Militant group, using entryist tactics was working within the Labour Party, and had gained control of Liverpool City Council in 1982.

When Heffer announced his retirement, Lesley Mahmood, a "Broad Left" councillor and a member of Militant, stood for the Labour nomination.

Some of Militant's leaders, Ted Grant and Rob Sewell, had remained convinced of the merits of entryism and argued privately against Mahmood standing.

[2] The candidacy was part of the process in Militant's rejection of entryism, or as they saw it, their open turn, and the expulsion of Grant leading to a split in the group.