Labour left observations from Upnorth

I want Labour to win the next British General election whenever. In the meantime I want us to re-elect the London Mayor, keep budgetary control of the Greater London Assembly and strengthen Labour's position in Welsh and English local elections in May.

Most of the Party action needed to achieve those goals is going to be on the watch of the current NEC, including the four current members out of six in the Constituency section elected back in 2006 on the Centre Left Grassroots Alliance (CLGA) slate.

A lively discussion is under way on Grimmerupnorth about the merits of the CLGA slate for the 2008 NEC Constituency section elections. That should really help the hapless six who have agreed/been elected to stand. For the record Save the Labour Party is one of the organisations that belongs to the CLGA. We hold postal ballots of our members to decide who is going to fill allocated place on the CLGA slate. Ann Black came top of our poll. I came 2nd and Susan Press came 3rd.

Grimmer says the CLGA should get real. What's her game? She was a member of the STLP national committee that discussed tactics and met the CLGA and reluctantly agreed that we could not force the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy to hold an all-member ballot of its members. Given the relative strength of membership in STLP and CLPD compared to the Labour Representation Committee and Compass, this all seems barely representative. I agree with that. None of the above, to the best of my knowledge, has a membership as large as the biggest CLP in the Labour Party. Nor has the 'non-membership' organisation Labour First, which includes Luke Akehurst amongst its leading lights.

All of the above hit above their weight. All are failing to force the leadership to listen to the calls for rebuilding. The only light is that tomorrow the NEC will hold a briefing meeting about recruitment of a new General Secretary, Party finances and internal and external inquiries into hidden donations. That meeting, albeit only a briefing, is thanks to a CLGA member of the NEC posing questions to which the current NEC are entitled to answers. STLP officers actively encouraged that call for an early meeting. STLP considers that radical steps will need to be announced at the 2008 Spring Conference to rebuild the party to have any hope of transforming the Party's electoral prospects in May. That is an essential springboard for a 4th term.

In the meantime the Centre Left has to remain united and disciplined even behind a slate that Grimmer finds fault with. If I were to fall under a bus, she would be the first person to whom CLGA would turn to fill the vacancy. Who then would she be encouraging you not to vote for on the CLGA slate to get John Wiseman elected? 

Comments

[susan press]

Peter, I have no "game." You are quite well aware that I argued fiercely with CLPD that they should have a proper ballot for the slate.The LRC, to my knowledge as a former member of the Save The Lsbour Party National Committee, has 10 times as many members as STLP. 1000 and growing.....To suggest its membership is smaller is, well,
just not so.
In the last NEC elections my CLP backed ALL the Grassroots Alliance slate. Largely at my instigation.....This time round, I will not and never would have voted for candidates who have NOT voted with the left of the Party.
John Wiseman is standing unilaterally - but as a socialist and meber of the LRC I will support him and as many of the CLGA slate as I feel I can.Which means I may not use all of the six votes.....As you also know, it is not just me who has problems with the slate. Indeed, you have discussed its problems with me several times.

[susan press]

.. and just for the record I had nothing at all to do with John Wiseman's decision to stand.

[Peter Kenyon]

Dear Susan

I think you have misundertood my point about the relative sizes of any of the ginger groups. None, not even Compass is as big as the biggest CLP in the Labour Party. Compass is twice as big as the LRC.

I hope you will reflect further on your position concerning the CLGA slate. The only people you will be giving comfort to are those organising the Leadership or Labour First slates.

[John Wiseman]

Dear Peter

I respect your position and respect you as a person, but there is a hole in the percieved left slate which I want to fill, which is a younger person who can carry the mantle into the future. I am left standing as a grassroots socialist who believes in democracy and progress in winning the next general election.

Thanks

John

[Peter Kenyon]

Dear John

Thanks for ringing me directly on this issue. There are lots of gaps in the slate - lack of representation for Scotland, more than half the English regions. I hope you will have a think about withdrawing your candidacy at this stage and swing your support behind the CLGA slate.

I would be happy to talk to any group that has been encouraging you to stand about why a united front behind the CLGA slate is vital, whatever its apparent defects.

Those shortcomings are not going to be resolved by splitting the vote come the election in June/July. Our immediate task is to break the stranglehold of No.10 Downing Street over the Party.

[John Wiseman]

Dear Peter

I am standing as I feel the grassroots alliance has failed the several things that the party needs democracy, accountability and progression as well as a united left. I feel this slate can't do that.

Good luck!

John

[Matthew Stiles]

I've got to agree with you here Peter. Susan's and John's tactics seem bizarre. Susan says she can't vote for people who she feels are centre-right, that has to mean Ann Black doesn't it? Ann Black, the most popular person on the slate who has just won the ballot in the STLP by a mile.

[Peter Kenyon]

Dear Matthew

I'm not sure who Susan has got in her sights. All I know is the LRC's name is listed as part of the CLGA. I think it's up to the LRC national committee to decide once and for all whether or not it is going to back the slate which includes its vice-chair Christine Shawcroft.

http://www.l-r-c.org.uk/about/nationalcommittee.asp