Why has the Labour Party failed (at the time of writing) to publish turnout figures for its 2012 internal elections? I hope there is an innocent explanation, like an administrative oversight or something similar.
Or is it that the Labour Party high command knows that they will be used as a proxy for current fully paid up membership? After all there have been some rather extravagant claims made by the nomenklatura about the net increase in membership since the 2010 General Election. My last posting on this subject was nine months ago here.
I yearn for a mass membership Labour Party. I don't think that cause is helped by a dogged determination on the part of the Leadership to be less than forthright about what current membership is, and what the latest trends are together with a clear analysis of what is shaping current recruitment methods.
Instead the Leadership needs to be up front and encouraging paid membership, and dropping the ludicrous Labour Supporters scheme, in its present form, which leaves too many people wondering what is the point of being a member in the first place.