Deselection of Labour councillors- insidious plot?
Posted on | November 9, 2009 | 1 Comment
In case you haven’t heard, the Labour party is in a bit of difficulty at the moment. Black councillors are being dropped like flies across the capital, and the situation isn’t much different in other parts of the country apparently.
Our friends at Operation Black Vote have rightly expressed concerns and Tottenham MP David Lammy has called for an official party inquiry.
In Haringey, three councillors have been dumped as candidates for next year’s local election, including the very well respected and much liked Brian Haley.
Another four are out in Waltham Forest and in Lambeth and Enfield, Betty Evans-Jacas and Denise Headley respectively have joined the Tories – Headley reportedly after also being blocked.
The ethnic shake up surely can’t be good news for the party in the capital where black voters are pretty loyal to Labour.
Reports are that the Conservatives and Lib Dems have been rubbing their hands in glee at the moves which swell their BME makeup.
In Lambeth, the council leader has been furious at Evans-Jacas, and goes so far as to accuse the Tories of offering: “public money to fund cash hand-outs to defecting councillors“.
But can it really be as simple as offering cash to defect? For those that have defected to the Tories or LibDems, their timing is significant- get in there now while the Labour ship is sinking with a view to a fresh start under a new administration.
But there are others who have left after apparently well grounded claims of being blocked or removed from positions that they held for an extended period of time.
There is clearly something wrong with Labour at the grassroots level- complaints have been growing over the past few months and this issue could become even more of an embarrassment for the party if it is not addressed soon.
Tags: councillors > Gossip > labour > libdems > local > london > selection > tories
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March 31st, 2010 @ 11:18 PM
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