LABOUR have been accused of “parachuting in paper candidates” after a raft of their Scottish General Election picks were revealed to be based south of the Border.

It comes after Wilma Brown - who had been selected to run for Labour in the party’s key target seat of Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath - was removed as a candidate following an outcry over “racist” social media posts.

In her place, Labour selected Melanie Ward, who lives in London.

In November, Ward tried to win the Labour nomination in Beckenham and Penge, in the south of the English capital. She pledged to "win on my own doorstep".

However, she lost out to Liam Conlon, who is Labour chief of staff Sue Gray’s son.

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Ward is the chief executive of the charity Medical Aid for Palestinians.

Her selection makes her just the latest Labour candidate in a Scottish constituency who is based in England.

The party’s candidate in Angus and Perthshire Glens is Elizabeth Carr-Ellis, who is a councillor more than 500 miles away in the city of Canterbury, in Kent.

And Labour’s candidate in Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross is Eva Kestner, who works as a councillor in Lewisham in London.

Further, Labour’s pick to run in Orkney and Shetland is Conor Savage, who lives in Edinburgh and previously stood in Bangor for Plaid Cymru.

Dr Lucy Beattie, who will run for the SNP against Kestner in Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, hit out at the party parachuting in candidates.

She said: “Labour can’t even find local members who believe enough in Labour to stand as candidates in Scottish constituencies – parachuting in paper candidates is a slap in the face to voters who deserve so much better.

“With the merest sniff of a return to Westminster government Labour have reverted to type – unashamedly taking the people of Scotland for granted.

“No one should trust a party that can’t convince their own local members to get behind Keir Starmer’s pro-Brexit, pro-austerity agenda.

“In constituencies across Scotland like Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, it’s clear only the SNP are focused on Scotland’s priorities and building a better future for everyone.”

Scottish Labour pointed to Ward’s previous attempt to be elected for the party, in Glenrothes in 2015. She lost out to the SNP’s Peter Grant.

A Scottish Labour spokesperson went on: “Every Labour candidate is united around our plan to deliver the change Scotland needs – from more jobs to lowering bills and strengthening Scotland’s position in a reformed and renewed United Kingdom.

“While other parties have given up on attempting to convince voters that change can happen and have doubled down on division, Labour are the only party speaking to all voters asking them to join us and help deliver the change that Scotland needs.”