A new era for Newham - Labour Briefing

Hat tip my fellow ward Councillor, John Whitworth - Labour Briefing 23 April.

"ON 15TH MARCH 2018, after many years of struggle for democratic governance in Newham, Cllr Rokhsana Fiaz won the selection for the Labour Party mayoral candidate in the May elections by 861 votes to 503 for the seemingly perennial incumbent, Sir Robin Wales. This larger than anticipated margin of victory represented a triumph for local democracy after 16 years of authoritarian rule - which had fully exposed the dangers of the directly-elected mayoral model.

A small number of party members had sustained a continuous fight for democracy in Newham Labour Party and council since it became apparent  in 2002 that Robin Wales would use the mayoral constitution to gather all power into his own hands. After the May 2014 local elections, this struggle began to have an effect within the council. A group of eleven councillors quickly coalesced to work for open debate, more effective scrutiny and greater transparency regarding the council’s dealings, particularly financial, as well as to replace the mayor when the opportunity arose.

When the first mayoral trigger ballot was declared in October 2016, a number of party members rallied around the democratic councillors to form a core group of about 25 campaigners for an open selection. The movement was fuelled by a frustration with the trigger ballot process and its mismanagement by Newham Local Campaign Forum and London regional officials, and finally by the intransigence of the NEC in refusing to grant a rerun or order an open selection.

This group then took part in a year-long stand-off with the Labour Party before ultimately wrenching from the NEC the authorisation for a trigger ballot rerun in January-February of this year. The struggle to remove Robin Wales did not constitute a simple left-right conflict - it was rather one of democrats versus fixers. The movement to obtain the selection of Rokhsana Fiaz in his place was a democratic alliance which mobilised members from across the Labour Party spectrum, including Momentum members and a few right wingers, with its centre of gravity located around the centre-left of the party.

Between the mayoral trigger ballot rerun and the mayoral selection contest, the delayed councillor selections took place in February. As Newham has a record of electing Labour candidates to all 60 seats, the profile of the councillor candidates is likely to prefigure that of the council. However, as nearly half of the candidates are new and some of them are not widely known, it is difficult to predict the balance of forces in the new council.

Nevertheless, it would be fair to classify the candidates into three approximately equal groups: those who are proven supporters of Rokhsana Fiaz (around ten of whom are firmly on the left), those who remained committed to Robin Wales until the end, and those whose allegiance has not clearly emerged. It is perfectly possible that members of the two latter groups will gravitate towards the new mayor.

Out of the mayoral selection campaign came a transformational manifesto. It is committed to placing  housing  at  the top of the agenda, with an undertaking to build 1,000 new council-owned homes within four years to  be  let  at  social rent levels, while ensuring that 50% of developer-built homes will be council- owned and also  let at  social rent levels. Another notable commitment is to ensure that the benefits of Newham’s economic development are shared among the residents by using the council’s procurement and supply chain to spend public money locally, thereby supporting the borough’s businesses.

With  education,  there  is  a  promise to   develop   stronger   partnerships with schools and oppose further academisation. There is also a pledge to double the number of youth hubs and break the cycle of violence by working with young people to set up a youth safety action group. Recognising the need to democratise local governance after a long period of autocracy and cronyism in Newham is an undertaking to build a culture of trust and openness that involves residents in the council’s decision-making process. This also entails a promise to hold a referendum by 2021 on the continuation of the directly elected mayoral system.

With a democratically minded mayoral candidate and a radical manifesto is the exciting prospect of a new era in Newham. There is great optimism that this project of transformation will be accepted by the electorate, carried through by the new mayor, and supported by the majority of the council and Labour Party".

(Update: Rokhsana Fiaz was elected Executive Mayor 3 May with a massive 73% of the vote which is more than 12% better than the previous Mayor. All the 60 Councillors elected that day are also Labour with similar majorities. http://www.johnslabourblog.org/2018/05/re-elected-newham-council-local.html)

Joining the Party by Rachel Finke

Recently I went to the memorial service for Rachel and saw Labour Leader, Jeremy Corbyn MP talk to a packed hall about this wonderful article. I never met Rachel and was there to support her father and his partner. But, I felt I did know her since her father had spoken and written so often about his talented daughters.

It was a deeply sad occasion but also a celebration of Rachel and her life. Family and friends gave beautiful and uplifting eulogies, personal reminiscences, poems, songs and music.

The family requested donations to the Mental Health Foundation in Rachel's memory. 

As someone who joined the Labour Party on his 16th birthday (and had been allowed to attend branch meetings and campaign before that) I had forgotten how scary Labour Party meetings were to new members. I hope that this article is required reading for all Party Chairs and Secretaries. 

In an unpredictable political climate, Rachel's astute observations about "electability" are still very valid.

Labour Briefing December 2015. "15 year old Rachel Finke, a new member of Hackney North CLP, describes a special journey

THERE'S CHAOS AT THE CENTRE OF THE CLASSROOM, a big huddle, loud voices. This is something I'd usually do my best to avoid, but, for some reason, I decide to be interested. "What's going on?" A boy is Waving a vote Labour sign in the air, pleased with the attention he's created for himself, and the heated debate that's followed (this a year 9 class, young people aren't interested in politics, my arse). Apparently he's been parading it around all day, and I'm reminded yet again that it's only a few a weeks until the General Election.

I begin cheering him on, which is strangely unlike me. "I joined! I'm a member!” He grins
triumphantly. The teacher is trying to settle us down. "What?" I say, "You can join when you're 14?" "Yeah" he replies, "It's the youngest age, it's only a pound a year." I grin. I know what the first thing I'm doing when I get home. 

I'm Rachel, and I’m 15 now. I joined the Party back in May, wanting to feel more involved in the
election. It was like I had all this knowledge about politics, and I couldn't do anything with it. Politics has such a huge influence over people's lives, for better or for worse. As a young person with no vote, I wanted to do more. I signed up online that afternoon, and found it was surprisingly easy. Politics suddenly felt really accessible. I didn't tell my dad until I received my card and membership packet in the post. I brought it to him excitedly. "Comrade," he said, grinning from ear to ear, fist bumping me...My first few weeks in the Labour Party were undoubtedly exciting. I went leafleting with a friend, we lost an election, Ed Miliband resigned and in an instant all the talk was focused on the new leadership. 

The first thing I attended was the London Young Labour Summer Conference. I Was unbelievably nervous, walking into the UCL with a bunch of uni students (Young Labour goes up to people aged 27) and dad's friend's daughter, who was in the year above me. I hadn't met her before. I knew nobody. Fortunately, I felt immediately accepted, everyone was encouraging and friendly, although that didn't stop me feeling intimidated. 

Most of the Labour Party meetings and events are intimidating. You can usually find me stuck right next to mum or dad. I can see this being a problem for many new members. Meetings are more often
than not filled with older people who seem to have been involved for an unimaginably long time. They all have more experience than you. I'm currently doing my GCSEs, too, and this means the meetings can be at really inconvenient times. Late. School nights. For this reason, I prefer the Young Labour events. They're scheduled at times I find easier, and there'll only be a few people who're more than ten years older than you.

Without a parent to hide behind I haven't got a choice but to interact with others. 

The leadership election is what made me feel really involved. Like many other young people, I boarded the Corbyn train. He may be old, but he resonates with young people, and so do his policies. His refusal to act and dress like other politicians, his history of going against the grain, his honest demeanour. For the first time ever, I could vote for something really important. My vote mattered, even if it was lost among the other 200,000 odd Corbyn votes. It may be early, but I have faith in Corbyn's ability to win the next election. Electability is a concept that hasn't always been right. Circa 2007, Obama wasn't considered electable, yet he's coming to the end of his second term as the US President. Nobody considered Corbyn electable as a leader, yet he received 60% of the vote. 

I hope the Labour Party can become even more open and inclusive. I'd like to help get more new members coming to meetings and campaign sessions. Hopefully getting the public more directly involved and connected with Westminster doesn't stop at Prime Minister's Questions