The Militant tendency was active in his constituency, which neighboured the group's Walton base in Liverpool, and Roberts described the national Labour Party's attempts to expel members of Militant as a "witch hunt". Following the 1983 election (in which he was re-elected with a 15,139 majority), Roberts nominated his constituency neighbour Eric Heffer for the Labour leadership and Michael Meacher for the Deputy Leadership.
Roberts' constituency was influenced by the Militant movement, located near their Liverpool base. He saw the Labour Party's attempts to remove Militant members as a "witch hunt". After winning re-election in 1983 with a significant margin, Roberts selected his neighbor Eric Heffer for the Labour leadership and Michael Meacher for deputy.