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)

Newham Labour Party members vote NO for YES to an Open Selection Vote for the next Labour Party Candidate to be Newham Mayor

20 out of 20 Labour Party wards voted by absolute or huge majorities for a democratic & open selection process for the next Newham Mayoral Candidate.

The Count is on Monday but I believe that the affiliates will also vote to support an open selection so it is game on! Watch this space. 

All 10 West Ham Labour Party Branches Vote Overwhelmingly for Newham Mayoral Trigger & Open Selection

Another massive vote by local Labour Party members for a Mayoral trigger and open selection. All 10 West Ham Labour Party branches have voted in favour with only a tiny handful of individuals in favour of the current Mayor being automatically the Labour Candidate in May.

The 10 East Ham branches will meet on Saturday in the Newham Town Hall (at great and completely unnecessary expense).

West Ham Women's forum meets on Sunday and the other affiliates will cast their votes by Monday noon.

Hopefully, we can then get on with this overdue open selection process and the current candidate can justify why he should remain in power for 28 years and others will have the opportunity to call for a change and unite the Party in time for the elections in May. 

BBC1 Sunday Politics London report on Newham Mayoral Trigger rerun after "decades and decades" of one person in power...

A somewhat neutral and balanced report by BBC London on the Newham Mayoral Trigger ballot rerun to decide our next Labour Candidate in the local elections in May.

The clip features Cllr Conor McAuley, a former Newham Cabinet member, who strongly criticises the current mayor, Robin Wales, over his housing policy citing 389 homes in the Stratford Carpenter Estate being left empty since 2005, while only the day before, homeless people were being evicted a short walk way by the Council and issued with CPNs (Community Protection Notices).

I will admit that I have not always seen eye to eye with Conor over the years but I am mystified that some people have been given all the credit for the 2012 Olympic bid and for the regeneration in Newham, when in fact it was Conor, as the Chair of the Council's main planning Committee for many years, who was as much as anyone responsible for facilitating the construction of the Westfields Shopping centre, which then made possible the successful Olympic Stadium bid.

There were some errors in the clip. I am not sure what "Centralist Labour" actually means? and why Conor is definitely not a supporter of Momentum, there is a very widespread coalition of Labour Party members across the entire Labour political spectrum who have supported the call for an open selection, which includes Momentum, Fabians, CLPD, Progress, Co-Op Party, Labour First, Compass and a number of trade union affiliates.

So far 8 branches have voted overwhelmingly for an open selection. There are 12 more to cast their votes as well as trade union and socialist society affiliates.

On Friday Cllr John Whitworth withdrew his challenge to the Mayoral position in favour of Cllr Rokhsana Fiaz.

Newham born and bred, Chair of Scrutiny and Custom House Councillor, Rokhsana Fiaz has made it clear that she would stand as a Mayoral candidate if there was a contest. 

Cllr John Whitworth withdraws from Newham mayoral challenge to support Cllr Rokhsana Fiaz

Newham Recorder "Cllr John Whitworth has announced he will no longer be challenging Sir Robin Wales to be Labour’s candidate for the mayoral elections and will instead be supporting Cllr Rokhsana Fiaz’s bid for selection.

The West Ham ward councillor had announced in November 2016 that he would be standing as a candidate if the trigger ballot vote resulted in an open selection.

The result of the 2016 trigger ballot was later scrapped after a legal challenge was mounted, and is currently being re-run.

On Monday, Cllr Rokhsana Fiaz declared her intention to challenge Sir Robin if members voted for an open selection.

That same day, Sir Robin called on members to vote in favour of an open selection.

The first five wards to cast their votes - West Ham, Custom House, Canning Town North, Plaistow South and Plaistow North - have all overwhelmingly voted in favour of an open selection.

Cllr Whitworth, whose own ward returned a 24 to 1 vote in favour of an open selection, declared his support for Custom House’s Cllr Fiaz.

Explaining his decision, he said: “I am doing this because I think she has the best chance of carrying out the changes I consider necessary in this borough.

“I believe Cllr Fiaz has the will to transform the governance of Newham to make it transparent, accountable, collegiate and - in a word - democratic.

“This includes consulting the people of the borough on the future of the office of directly-elected mayor.”

He added: “I also believe Cllr Fiaz has the ability to conduct a review of the council’s structures and resources, so they are used more effectively to meet the needs of the borough’s least fortunate residents while helping to make life better for all.

“I believe, furthermore, that a leader with her skills, qualities and socialist values will attract increased support for the Labour Party in the forthcoming local elections.”

The rest of the trigger ballot meetings will take place between now and Sunday, February 11.

After that, the party will have less than three months to choose its mayoral candidate and campaign to win the election, which is taking place on Thursday, May 3.

Super Thursday Massacre in Favour of Open Selection in Newham Mayoral Trigger

I took part as a local member in the Newham Mayor trigger ballot meeting for my ward, Forest Gate North.

All members present had the chance to make a contribution before they had a vote on whether to affirm Robin Wales as the Labour candidate for Newham in May 2018 or have an open selection with other candidates putting themselves forward and being given the chance to be selected.

I made the point to the meeting that it was more than daft that Robin had been in power in Newham since 1994 and that it was about time that he had to stand on his record and also allow alternative candidates to make their case.

It is called democracy.

While we were at the meeting we heard that Stratford Ward voted 26-1 in favour of any open selection and in the former Robin Wales stronghold of Forest Gate South it was 30-1.

In Forest Gate North we voted 25-2 which means that so far, Robin's powerhouse in our CLP is in Forest Gate North of all places with 2 votes in favour of him being our mayoral candidate out of 25.

A 100% increase for him compared to all other votes :)

Day 3 of Newham Mayoral Trigger fiasco - Plaistow North & South Massive Vote for Open Selection

There was a BBC news crew outside the selection meetings last night I understand. So 18 "NO" for an open selection and 1 "YES" in Plaistow North.  Then 19 "NO" to open selection and another 1 "YES"  in Plaistow South.

The massacre continues but why, why, why on earth are we wasting time and money on this vanity project? 

Today is Super Thursday - Forest Gate South, Forest Gate North & Stratford & Newtown.  

(It is rumoured that Forest Gate North members will vote "YES" since they do not appreciate being told how to vote by the Mayor).

Hat tip https://twitter.com/newhamselection

More info http://www.newhamforopenselection.org/

and https://www.facebook.com/NewhamTriggerBallot/

Day 2 of Rerun Newham Labour Mayoral Trigger - Canning Town North & Custom House vote NO for an open selection

This is turning into a massacre. Last night West Ham ward result was 24 to 1 for an open selection. Tomorrow it is Plaistow South and Plaistow North wards.

Hat tip https://twitter.com/newhamselection

More info http://www.newhamforopenselection.org/

and https://www.facebook.com/NewhamTriggerBallot/

"Cllr Rokhsana Fiaz set to challenge for mayor of Newham"

"Cllr Rokhsana Fiaz has announced she will challenge to be Labour’s candidate for mayor of Newham if party members agree to an open selection.

The Custom House councillor has thrown her hat into the ring ahead of the first wards casting their votes tonight in the re-run of the process.

She said: “I’m putting myself forward for this because I want to offer a fresh start for this council and a new ambitious alternative for Newham.”

Cllr Fiaz, who was born and brought up in the borough, was first elected as a councillor in May 2014 and currently sits as chair of scrutiny as well as a member of the council’s audit board and strategic development committee.

She explained that she was passionate about the issues facing a lot of people living in the borough, including affordable adult social care, the safety of young people and investment in early years education.

“I’m passionate about making sure there are genuinely affordable, quality homes for people,” she added.

“I’ve been working closely with an organisation called Peach, who are in my ward of Custom House, to allow residents to have their say during the regeneration.

“Uniquely, I’m also the only councilor who does regular youth surgeries for young people to come and meet me.”

The trigger ballot, also known as the affirmitive nomination process, is being held to decide whether to automatically select incumbent mayor Sir Robin Wales as Labour’s candidate for May’s election or whether to open it up to other prospective candidates.

The original ballot was held in December 2016 but earlier this month, the result was scrapped after legal action was launched.

Last time, Sir Robin won the trigger ballot with 20 votes to 17 thanks to most affiliated organisations backing him - but 11 out of 20 Labour electoral wards called for the involvement of other candidates.

Cllr Fiaz said: “If there is an open selection, I look forward to discussing with members my vision and their hopes.

“Whatever the outcome of the trigger ballot, members should have the opportunity to choose from a range of candidates and I am stepping forward to be one of them.”

Newham Recorder

Newham Mayoral candidate admits he will lose "trigger"

A very interesting evening tonight. The first rerun Newham Labour Mayoral trigger ballot took place at West Ham Ward.  To the surprise of the 25 members who turned up (but not to me since it had been widely leaked) the incumbent, Sir Robin Wales, had sent a statement to the meeting saying that he now wanted an "open selection process" not a trigger.  He therefore wanted everyone to vote NO to him being automatically selected for the fifth time as the Newham Labour Mayoral candidate in May.

The whole point of this meeting (and the 21 other meetings that had been arranged over the next 2 weeks) had been to decide whether or not there should be an open selection.

I understand that a number of members were pretty angry that he had wasted their time by informing them of this at the last possible moment and why did he allow Labour Party resources to be wasted on frankly, a pointless meeting.

24 members voted for an open selection and 1 against (I understand that the person "against" said privately that they would automatically vote against anything Robin wanted).

Robins' very odd statement reminds me of his previous intervention in December when he issued a press statement  http://www.johnslabourblog.org/2017/12/newham-mayor-accepts-that-his-selection.html  demanding  a rerun of the trigger process?

It turned out that this was only because the Labour Party had told him that they would be rerunning the original trigger ballot since many local Labour members had taken legal action against the Party over it and therefore surely "Robin accepts that there is overwhelming evidence his selection process was indeed 'rigged' and that the Court would find against the Party over it or he would not now be calling for it to be rerun?

Why didn't Robin tell us months ago that he was willing to have an open selection so we could have got on with it there and then and not leave things to the last possible moment (we have not yet selected any Councillor candidates for the elections on 4 May 2018).

The only logical reason for him to call for an open selection at this stage is because he knows he will lose a "trigger".

There are 21 equally pointless "trigger" meetings due over the next 2 weeks. East Ham Town Hall has been hired at a huge cost for all their meetings. 

What on earth is going on?   

Newham For An Open Selection

It is game on for the rerun of the Newham Labour Mayoral trigger. Check out below :-

http://www.newhamforopenselection.org/ 

https://twitter.com/newhamselection

https://www.facebook.com/NewhamTriggerBallot/

More stuff to follow

Custom House Ward is 2nd branch to hold Newham Mayoral Trigger - 7.30 Tuesday 30 January at Ascension Church E13

Custom House ward will hold the 2nd West Ham ward Labour Party trigger (out of 10) on the Newham Labour Mayor on 7.30pm Tuesday 30 January in Ascension Church, Baxter Rd, London, E16 3HJ. 

I will repeat below my comments about the West Ham CLP ward trigger meeting

"If you are an eligible ward member (there is a "freeze" date, so if you were not a party member by 26 April 2016 and also living in the borough since 25 October 2016 you cannot vote) then you should have received an email or letter informing you of date, time, location and identity requirements.

I would suggest that you arrive at least 30 minutes early for registration and that the Party asks you to bring some form of ID with you such as your Labour Party membership card.

West Ham Labour Party Executive Committee is running its 10 ward trigger ballot meetings over the next 3 weeks (details to be published on this blog and others). Each ward will be given at least 7 days notice.

East Ham Labour Party ward trigger ballot meetings will all be run on the same day by London Regional Labour Party at the East Ham Town Hall E6 on Saturday 10 February. All eligible members should have got an email or letter from London Region.

You will not be able to attend and participate in these meetings if you are not eligible to vote or in arrears with your Party subscriptions (so get up to date!).

(To be clear, even though I am an Executive officer of West Ham CLP, I will not be taking part in the above process since I am openly calling for a NO vote and wish an open mayoral selection process).

After 24 years of one person being in charge it is about time that there was a democratic choice for Party members before making it 28 years. Please spread the word. 

Newham Labour Supporters for an Open Mayoral Selection - West Ham Ward is First!

Newham Labour Mayoral Rerun Trigger Ballot is Go, Go, Go!

The rerun is starting next Monday 29 January 7.30pm at the West Ham CLP Headquarters, 306 High Street, Stratford, London, E15 for my favourite Newham ward, West Ham.

If you are an eligible West Ham ward member (there is a "freeze" date, so if you were not a party member by 26 April 2016 and also living in the borough since 25 October 2016 you cannot vote) then you should have received an email or letter informing you of date, time, location and identity requirements.

I would suggest that you arrive at least 30 minutes early for registration and that the Party asks you to bring some form of ID with you such as your Labour Party membership card.

West Ham Labour Party Executive Committee is running its 10 ward trigger ballot meetings over the next 3 weeks (details to be published on this blog and others). Each ward will be given at least 7 days notice.

East Ham Labour Party ward trigger ballot meetings will all be run on the same day by London Regional Labour Party at the East Ham Town Hall E6 on Saturday 10 February. All eligible members should have got an email or letter from London Region.

You will not be able to attend and participate in these meetings if you are not eligible to vote or in arrears with your Party subscriptions (so get up to date!).

(To be clear, even though I am an Executive officer of West Ham CLP, I will not be taking part in the above process since I am openly calling for a NO vote and wish an open mayoral selection process).

"Labour sets Newham mayor ‘trigger ballot’ re-run dates"

Check out below another insightful article by "OnLondon" journalist Dave Hill, about the Newham Mayoral trigger.

I am more than happy with my quote in this article except, perhaps to make clear that I spoke as a Labour Party activist and that I am an elected lay "official" of UNISON and not an employed officer of the union. 

"The re-run process for deciding if Sir Robin Wales will again be Labour’s mayoral candidate for Newham without having to win a separate selection contest will be completed by the end of 11 February, according a timetable set by the party’s London regional body.

Voting arrangements for members of Labour ward branches within the East Ham parliamentary constituency will be directly run by regional officers in line with an agreement reached following legal action by party members in Newham, who were unhappy with how the original affirmative nomination or “trigger ballot” had been conducted.

While individual party branches within the neighbouring West Ham CLP have been given leave to run their own meetings to decide which way to cast their re-run trigger ballot votes, the London region will organise the East Ham meetings themselves in Newham Town Hall over the weekend of 10 and 11 February. An email from the party’s deputy regional director, seen by On London, explains that this is because “we believe their branches have not met for some time”.

The re-run process for deciding if Sir Robin Wales will again be Labour’s mayoral candidate for Newham without having to win a separate selection contest will be completed by the end of 11 February, according a timetable set by the party’s London regional body.

Voting arrangements for members of Labour ward branches within the East Ham parliamentary constituency will be directly run by regional officers in line with an agreement reached following legal action by party members in Newham, who were unhappy with how the original affirmative nomination or “trigger ballot” had been conducted.

While individual party branches within the neighbouring West Ham CLP have been given leave to run their own meetings to decide which way to cast their re-run trigger ballot votes, the London region will organise the East Ham meetings themselves in Newham Town Hall over the weekend of 10 and 11 February. An email from the party’s deputy regional director, seen by On London, explains that this is because “we believe their branches have not met for some time”.

The London region informed members at the beginning of the year that a re-run would take place. Its decision to treat the East Ham branches differently appears to vindicate claims made during the legal action and by its supporters that East Ham CLP as a whole has not been being functioning correctly and that this influenced the way the original trigger ballot process, held during the autumn of 2016, was administered.

Eligibility for the re-run ballot is restricted to those members and affiliated organisations judged to have legitimately taken part in the original process and which have maintained those party links.

On London has been told that two of the organisations that voted in the original trigger ballot, both of them in favour of the incumbent mayor going forward automatically as his party’s candidate for 2018, will not take part in the re-run.

One is the Newham branch of the Fabian Society, which it was claimed was not in fact affiliated to East Ham CLP when the original ballot took place. The Newham branch has been found by Fabian Society headquarters to have failed to follow the organisation’s own procedure for deciding how to cast trigger ballot votes.

The other is the trade union Bectu, which disaffiliated from the Labour Party nationally at the end of 2016 due to its merger with another union, Prospect. This was unconnected with claims that the Bectu branch which voted in the 2016 trigger ballot had not paid its affiliation fee and should therefore not have been eligible. Bectu’s headquarters were unable to confirm to On London that the fee had been paid.

On London has reported that another participating union, the TSSA, which had a branch affiliated to East Ham CLP, appears to have been treated differently from other affiliated unions with the likely effect that its vote was cast in Sir Robin’s favour rather than against.

Sir Robin was confirmed by Labour’s governing National Executive Committee as having secured the candidate nomination by 20 votes to 17, despite a request made in January last year by 47 party members in Newham, including 10 councillors, to establish an inquiry into how the trigger ballot was run.

A 13-page letter listed seven votes cast in the ballot that backed Sir Robin it considered questionable, including those of Bectu, TSSA, Newham Fabians and three ward branches.

It also questioned how the trigger ballot rules were explained and interpreted, pointing out that in the case of some unions individual affiliated branches cast one vote each while Unison, despite having six affiliated branches, cast only a single vote on behalf of all of them. The Unison vote was against Sir Robin’s automatic re-selection. On London understands that Unison intends to cast six votes in the re-run.

Should Sir Robin fail to secure a majority in the fresh trigger ballot, an open selection contest will ensue in which he will have the automatic right to stand. Other possible contenders include Councillor Rokhsana Fiaz, who is said to be considering whether she would seek to enter the race.

Some Newham members, including Councillors Julianne Marriott, Charlene McLean and John Gray had tried to get the NEC to rule that an open selection contest should take place immediately. According to unconfirmed reports, their case was considered at a recent meeting of the relevant NEC sub-committee but rejected in part because representatives of unions were opposed. Unlike the trigger ballot, the franchise for the open selection would be restricted to party members and conducted on a one member, one vote basis.

Gray, a Unison officer and one of the 47 signatories of the January 2017 letter to the NEC, has nonetheless welcomed the trigger ballot re-run. He told On London that Fiaz would be “one of a number good candidates who might run if Robin loses and could help build unity after the first, disastrous selection process”.

"Labour members call for immediate ‘open selection’ to choose Newham mayoral candidate"

Another sensible article from "On London" journalist Dave Hill on the Newham Mayoral trigger debacle. He features Newham Councillor and former mayoral advisor (one of the very few female advisors) Julianne Marriott, calling for an open selection. The NEC are meeting tomorrow and I have also lobbied its members calling for the same thing.

"Labour Party members in Newham having asked the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) to order an immediate open selection contest for choosing their candidate for May’s mayoral election in the borough, rather than re-running the disputed “trigger ballot” that initially saw the incumbent Sir Robin Wales go forward automatically for the role.

Newham Labour councillor Julianne Marriott reported on Twitter yesterday that she had emailed the NEC with the request, stating that she does not believe “a re-run of the trigger ballot is in the best interest of Newham residents”. Her fellow Labour councillor Charlene McLean has written a letter to Labour’s general secretary Iain McNicol in her capacity as chair of West Ham Consitutency Labour Party making the same appeal on behalf of herself and her fellow CLP officers.

The interventions follow Labour’s acting Greater London regional director Neil Fleming informing local members last week that the original trigger ballot – or affirmative nomination process – which was held in autumn 2016 would be re-run from regional level following claims that there had been a number of irregularities in its administration by the party’s local campaign forum and a resulting legal challenge when the NEC failing to investigate them.

Fleming did not give a date on which the re-run trigger ballot would start and there are concerns locally that conducting it and then completing a possible ensuing open selection contest should Sir Robin fail to secure the majority he needs for automatic re-selection would create unmanageable time and organisational pressures with the election only four months away, and accentuate tensions within the local membership.

Re-selection processes for sitting Labour councillors have yet to be completed, meaning that ordinary members are already being asked to absorb campaign literature and attend special meetings. The original mayoral trigger ballot process took approximately five weeks to complete.

McLean’s letter expresses concerns that “there is no longer sufficient time” in which to run a new trigger ballot process and any open selection contest that might follow, adding the view that “it is the Labour Party’s delay in addressing our concerns which has created this urgency”.

She also reminds McNicol that West Ham CLP, one of the two CLPs in Newham, passed a vote of no confidence in the original trigger ballot process in January 2017, reaffirming this the following November, and says there has been “no constructive engagement” with them on the issues raised.

Elaborating on her reasons for writing to the NEC on Twitter, Marriott expressed her personal expectation that “a re-run trigger ballot will go to open selection” and that this would result in a delay in Newham residents “knowing who [the] Labour candidate is [and] what they stand for”. She added that she thinks a new trigger ballot and possible wider media coverage of it “unlikely to be positive experience for residents and members”.

Sir Robin is seeking an unprecedented fifth term as Newham’s Mayor, having previously been leader of the council under the previous local government system in the borough. Labour’s political dominance in Newham is such the eventual winner of the internal candidate selection contest is almost certain to go on to become the borough’s Mayor in May.

This article was updated on 8 January at 17:25 to include details from the west Ham CLP letter. Previous coverage of the Newham trigger ballot dispute can be read here."

#Labourdoorstep in Plaistow North

After my Councillor surgery this morning I went over to Plaistow North ward to help out knocking on doors and speaking to local residents about the forthcoming Council elections in May.

It was cold but thankfully it stayed dry. Plaistow North is next door to West Ham and very similar. A mixture of  private Victorian terraces and purpose built social housing. I got into a little bit of trouble for sending out a New Year e-newsletter to CLP members this month (as Vice Chair Campaigns and Communications) titled "Want to get fit and lose weight? Go canvassing". Some members thought it was inappropriate.

After going up and down the communal stairs in the Tibbenham Walk blocks I felt vindicated. Why spend £40 per month joining a gym when you could instead go campaigning with Labour. My Google fit app recorded nearly 7,000 steps.

The canvass itself went really well. Labour support was pretty rock solid but I was surprised how many residents had picked up on the Newham Mayoral selection and expressed let me say, very strong views on it.

PS does anyone know what the purpose of the steps and rails in the Tibbenham Walk gardens? (bottom right of picture collage)

"Veteran Newham mayor faces deselection fight ahead of local election contest"

For once, a balanced article by the London Evening Standard about Labour Politics. I and many other Councillors and Party members support the call by Cllr Marriott, Charlene Mclean and West Ham Labour Party for an open selection to decide the next Labour candidate.  I think that the "trigger" process in Newham has been completely discredited by the so-called previous "process".

Robin Wales has been in charge of Newham since 1995 and if he is not "triggered" then he would have been in power for a staggering 27 years (until 2022) without any open democratic process since 2001.  

The directly elected Newham Mayor is a hugely powerful position responsible for over 300,000 residents, employing thousands of staff and a Billion pound plus turnover.

There is also not enough time for another "trigger" before May 2018, which practically everyone believes will result in Robin Wales being "triggered", which will automatically lead to an open selection. 

We also have not finished the appeals for Council candidates who did not pass their initial interviews.  We therefore have no Labour candidates in place to organise the May election for the 60 Newham Labour seats.

"Veteran Newham mayor faces deselection fight ahead of local election contest"

Labour members in the borough have written to the party’s National Executive Committee calling for an open vote to pick their candidate.

Newham Labour councillor Julianne Marriott, who was behind the letter, said she did not believe another trigger ballot was “in the best interests” of residents.

It comes after Sir Robin called for the first result to be scrapped after legal action was launched.

Charlene McLean, chairman of the West Ham constituency party which passed a no-confidence vote in the ballot, has also written to Labour general secretary Iain McNicol. In her letter, seen by the Standard, she warned there was not “sufficient time” to run a new trigger ballot, followed by an open selection if Sir Robin were deselected, as the local elections were in just four months’ time.

The calls follow the disputed trigger ballot in autumn 2016 which Sir Robin won by 20 votes to 17. Eleven out of 20 local Labour wards called for other candidates to be on the slate.

It was announced this month that the trigger ballot would be rerun following claims of irregularities and a legal challenge.

Ms Marriott said: “I believe we should go straight to an open selection as that will be the result of a rerun of the trigger ballot.”

The successful candidate is almost certain to become mayor in the Labour-dominated borough".

Hat tip pic Jo G

"All we want is democracy for all" Newham Mayoral Trigger

In last weeks letter page of the "Newham Recorder". Cllr John Whitworth argues that following the unfairness and wrongdoing in the previous flawed process there should be an open selection to be the Labour Candidate in the 2018 Newham Mayoral local elections.

While Jo Phillips demands "change, honesty and transparency and above all democracy for all".

I must agree.  At the risk of seeming over dramatic millions have died, suffered and risked their lives for these basic and absolute human rights.   

Rerun of Newham Mayoral Trigger for local elections 2018

I was really pleased to receive this email this evening even if I think that some of the information is unfortunately inaccurate, it is a welcome start to uniting the Party, doing the right thing and will indeed hopefully help deliver a successful campaign in Newham for the May 2018 local elections. 

"Dear Councillor John Gray 

As you may be aware, an affirmative ballot to determine the re-selection of the sitting directly-elected Mayor Newham was held in December 2016. This ballot, which was administered by the Local Campaign Forum (LCF), confirmed that Sir Robin Wales was selected as Labour’s candidate to fight the Mayoral election in May 2018.

Following the completion of this process, the party received complaints from a group of members with concerns over the eligibility status of some affiliated organisations who took part in the process. The complainants made it clear to the party that they intended to seek legal judgement on these matters in the courts.

The Labour Party maintains that all rules and procedures were applied correctly and that officers of the LCF acted in good faith with the information they were provided with.

However, a court case to determine that matter would be costly to the party and be a massive distraction away from campaigning to elect a Labour Mayor for Newham. Therefore, we have agreed to re-run the affirmative nomination process for Newham to determine if Sir Robin Wales is re-selected as Labour’s candidate for the election. The process will be administered by the Greater London Labour Party.

The ballot will be run with the same freeze date as the original process, 25th October 2016. This means that only members with six months membership at this point will be eligible to take part in any branch meetings where the affirmative vote will take place. If you are an eligible member then the party will be in touch with you to give you notice of this meeting.

We aim to complete this process as soon as possible to ensure everyone in the party can come together to play their part in delivering a successful campaign in Newham.

Best wishes, 

**** ******
***** Greater London Labour Party

Newham Mayor admits that his selection process was "rigged"?

I have received a number of comments from Labour Party members in Newham today who were somewhat surprised to get a very odd email from our  Labour directly elected Mayor, Robin Wales.  He wants a rerun of the very controversial trigger ballot selection process that "elected him" as a Mayoral candidate for the 5^th time (20 years in power) for the local elections next May 3^rd 2018. 

This email appears to have been sent at the same time as a press release from Robin to the local newspaper, Newham Recorder - see here. 

I would not normally comment on such internal Labour Party matters but I can on this occasion as I was the campaign manager for Councillor John Whitworth   John had previously declared in the controversial selection process that he wanted to be a candidate, if the trigger ballot had resulted in an open selection.  I therefore think I ought to point out some points of clarification. 

Robin suggests in his press release that "anonymous" people are attacking him and have filed a court case against the Labour Party. Since Robin has brought this out into the public arena, I feel that it is only right that I point out that in British law if you are "anonymous" you CANNOT take such legal action and that I understand the claimants in this legal action are actually named former senior Newham Councillors and long standing local Labour Party members from all political wings of the Party. 

I assume from the email and the press report (which are different but the full email has been widely published on social media) that Robin accepts that there is overwhelming evidence his selection process was indeed 'rigged' and that the Court would find against the Party over it or he would not now be calling for it to be rerun?

There are other allegations flying about which I cannot comment upon but I am, to say the least, disappointed that Robin has done this public act without any apparent consultation with the local Party. 

The only thing now is for the Labour Party to order an open selection process, not yet another a discredited trigger ballot, for local members to choose from a selection of candidates including Robin (who will automatically be shortlisted by the Party) by secret ballot. 

There is a real practical problem in that there is simply not enough time to have a Mayoral trigger ballot, which could end in an open selection before 3 May 2018 and complete the outstanding Newham Councillor 2018 candidate selections.

Open selection. One member. One vote. Decision.

Let’s get on with it.