Peter Kenyon

Labour Party challenges: rebuilding trust

Former Labour ministers are enjoying a last gasp of media exposure. It must be August. Paul Myners berated the Labour Party leadership contest as a failure in yesterday's Guardian here, and reportedly urged them to break the rules governing the hustings. Alan Milburn is off to advise the Tories, joining David Blunkett and Frank Field. (Yes, Frank was a minister over 10 years ago.) And amid the ConDem slash and burn proposals, Local Government secretary Eric Pickles takes out the Audit Commission, prompting wailing from his Labour shadow, John Denham and praise from fellow National Executive Committee (NEC) candidate,  Ken Livingstone, better known as a Labour London Mayoral wannabee. In the meantime leading self-proclaimed leftie blogger, Sunny Hundal has joined the Labour Party. 

Each of these episodes tells a tale about the role of trust in our politics. I want to concentrate on the Audit Commission. I had occasion to approach the Audit Commission (AC) informally about a fundamental breakdown in the established procedures governing local government finance some ten years ago. It was in the wake of catastrophic budgetary failure in the London Borough of Hackney. Researching the AC's functions I learned two important things: 1) it was set up by the Conservatives in 1982 while Michael Heseltine was the minister reponsible as Secretary of State for the Environment, and 2) that 'client' for the audit was not the local electorate, through its council and elected members; but Parliament, through the Public Accounts Committee of the House of Commons and the Secretary of State. In other words, for nearly 30 years, we have had institutionalised mis-trust in the management of local government finance.

Mistrust? Why so. Well in virtually every other form of collective activity, I can think of trust is institutionalised 'locally'. An unincorporated voluntary organisation's members appoint an auditor at their Annual General Meeting to report to them on the previous year's annual accounts and, looking to the future, advise on going concern. They are routinely enabled to pose questions at next year's AGM. Ditto, members of incorporated bodies, whether charitable or commercial.

On my journey (to coin a phrase in prominent use, currently) I have discovered while the Labour Party at branch and constituency level functions like that, well at least in theory. It is a different story nationally. Mistrust is institutionalised to the extent that as an elected member of the Labour Party National Executive Committee I am not allowed to question the Auditor directly, nor am I entitled to receive regular management accounts.

Our leadership candidates would do well to reflect on this before pontificating about the war or the deficit, or rebuilding trust with the electorate, or even members.

An easy, easy guide to give members a say: PPC selections

The Labour Party NEC has decided a fast-track procedure to get candidates in place asap whilst at the say time giving members priority in the selection process for as long as possible even after a General Election is called. I have already drawn attention to interminable delays in some quarters.

However, this is in sharp and welcome contast to the procedure being deployed now by the Conservative Party, which show it's in a right pickle.That is at least according to this account by leading Tory blogger, Iain Dale here.

Buried in his Friday Snippets, Iain a shameless Tory PPC wannabee reveals:

All other seats are now being selected by the new system in which Eric Pickles nominates a shortlist of at least three.

But back to the democratic socialist party's selection process. Typically, the 'powers that be' have chosen a command and control approach. Applications have to be sent to a central email address. No facility has been provided to enable local party officials to be copied in. That's a pity.

The easy easy guide is this:

1. All members in CLP put on red alert by MP stepping down in grovelling letter for inconvenience caused by late resignation by email and post (there is not a single MP in the House of Commons who could conceivably claim poverty whatever the cost of a 1st class stamp.)

2. All interested applicants to submit CV to Head Office AND a CLP Procedures Secretary

3. Scorecard agreed between CLP and Head Office to be used locally to sift from many to long-list.

4. All members to be offered preference ballot of long listed candidates to 'guide' the Special Selections Panel regarding short-listing.

5. Special Selections Panel to invited CLP representative(s) to observe shortlisting

6. Agree a (record) of the shortlising process between SSP members and the CLP observer(s) for publication.

Reality check: Deadline for Leyton and Wanstead applications 8 February. Interviews for shortlisting 11 February. Applications before deadline announced 60+. Missing procedure: sifting from many to manageable long-list. Watch this space. Why 8 Feb? Why not 5 Feb so local activists could long-list next weekend? Not rocket science, unless you are a control-freak.

The above procedure would ensure an open and transparent method of remaining Labour PPC selections. (Very different from the Pickles approach adopted by the Tories.) Of course, it would reduce the temptation of the 'Labour Party powers that be' to rig the short-list for their preferred candidate. It is so easy, short-list one serious candidate, two plausible make-weights and one that never turns up. Bah, boom!

Of course, the Labour Party NEC disgraced itself last week by failing to rule that any one on the SSP would be disbarred from seeking a seat. It compounded its error by refusing to agree to CLP observer(s) at the shortlisting stage. Not very smart for a party seeking to rebuild trust with the electorate and get re-elected. 'Twas ever thus in TIGMOO.