"Sir Robin Wales calls for contested mayoral ‘trigger ballot’ outcome to be cancelled"

Hat tip Dave Hill's On London blog 

"Sir Robin Wales has asked the Labour Party to cancel the outcome of the internal selection process that saw him endorsed to seek a fifth term as Mayor of Newham following a campaign by local members for an investigation into its conduct.

An affirmative nomination or “trigger ballot” held in the autumn of 2016, saw Sir Robin prevail by 20 votes to 17, and Labour’s governing National Executive Committee (NEC) has resisted calls by party members in Newham, including ten councillors, to look into what they described as “many failures of process/propriety and procedural irregularities”.

But now Sir Robin has told the Newham Recorder that although the trigger ballot outcome was confirmed by the NEC, legal action against it by some of the complainants had prompted him ask for it to be quashed because “the costs of a court case would be significant and Labour Party members’ money should not be used in this way”.

Sir Robin’s initiative came after those pursuing the legal action secured the funds they required to move to the “statement of claim” stage, setting out the grounds for their case that their party has “behaved improperly” over the trigger ballot, both locally and nationally.

A letter to the NEC sent in January signed by 47 Labour members, including 10 councillors, argued that seven of the votes cast in favour of Sir Robin going forward automatically as Labour candidate for next year’s mayoral election rather than facing potential challenges from other hopefuls had been dubious and that there had been inconsistencies in the way unions affiliated to the party locally had been enfranchised.

Each of Newham’s 20 ward branches had a single vote in an electoral college, which also included 11 affiliates, seven of which were trade unions. The branches voted by 11 to nine against Sir Robin progressing without a further contest, but the balance of affiliates’ votes gave the incumbent the majority he needed.

A review by the Fabian Society of the approach taken by its Newham branch to deciding which way to vote found that it had “breached the society’s rules” in coming to its decision to back Sir Robin’s automatic candidacy.

It has been established by On London that the headquarters of Bectu, one of the unions with a local affiliated branch at the time of the ballot, cannot confirm that an affiliation fee was paid for the relevant year. (For unrelated reasons, Bectu is no longer affiliated to Labour).

On London has also learned that the ballot paper for an affiliated branch of the TSSA union was conveyed directly to an officer of that branch by a councillor who is a member of Sir Robin’s mayoral team rather than being sent initially to a more senior figure in the organisation, as appears to have been the case with other unions. The TSSA vote was eventually cast in favour of Sir Robin.

One key point of the dispute has been whether Labour party rules entitle each affiliated union branch to vote separately in mayoral trigger ballots or whether just a single vote per union should be accepted, regardless of how many different branches are affiliated locally.

Not all the unions involved interpreted the rules in the same way, resulting in Unison casting just one vote – against Sir Robin going forward automatically – despite having six branches affiliated, whereas the GMB – which supported Sir Robin – cast four votes, the CWU cast three and Unite cast two.

It is understood that an audio recording, heard by On London, which those who have been seeking an investigation believe reveal an ally of Sir Robin disclosing questionable conduct concerning the trigger ballot process, has been sent to a senior Labour Party official.

In his comments to the Newham Recorder Sir Robin says he is “supporting a new process to be undertaken under the auspices of the national or regional Labour Party”. The complainants have criticised the involvement of at least one member of Sir Robin’s mayoral team in the running of the process.

Any decision by the party to instigate a fresh trigger ballot or to hold an open selection contest will entail settling on a “freeze date” in advance of which members and affiliates will have to had have had their documentation in order to be eligible to vote.

Since the completion of the original ballot, the GMB has affiliated 26 branches to West Ham constituency Labour Party in Newham, each of which would have a separate vote if a freeze date subsequent to their affiliation were set and multiple votes per union again accepted.

Read all of On London’s coverage of the Newham mayor trigger ballot dispute via here.

Second affiliate says it is checking Newham mayoral vote

Check out latest report in the "Newham Recorder". Tonight at my Councillor surgery I had angry and upset residents coming to see me about what they believe to be a "rigged" Mayoral trigger ballot. 

"A second affiliate organisation has confirmed that enquiries are being made about its voting process following Sir Robin Wales’ reselection in the Mayor of Newham 2018 election.

TSSA (Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association) voted “yes” to keep Sir Robin Wales as Labour’s candidate for the mayor in the recent trigger ballot process held across Newham.

However, a source close to the transport union told the Recorder: “A complaint has been made to TSSA that a TSSA branch may have voted in East Ham Constituency Labour Party without the necessary affiliation requirements being in place.

“TSSA will now conduct an inquiry into the matter and report any irregularities to the relevant authorities should it prove necessary.”

A spokeswoman for TSSA confirmed enquiries were underway but didn’t wish to comment further.

The Recorder has been informed that the complaint made concerns about the eligibility of the TSSA branch in Newham.

It is allegedly not allowed to vote because the annual application fee for 2016 has not been paid and the executive branch was not officially informed of a vote taking place.

The controversy follows the Fabian Society’s acknowledgement last week that it is “seeking further information” about its vote.

Members complained a “yes” vote had proceeded despite the society’s Newham branch not having met for four years.

Sir Robin Wales’ victory in the trigger ballot centered on affiliated organisations – comprising trade unions and socialist societies – which voted 11 to 6 in favour of keeping him.

In contrast, 11 out of 20 Labour wards voted for a choice of entrants.

A spokesperson for Trigger Democracy, which campaigned for an open selection process, said “this is now the second affiliate vote that appeals to be unravelling under scrutiny”.

They said: “The mayor ignored the democratic will of members in favour of these votes from affiliates which are now being called into question.”

A representative for Sir Robin Wales was approached for comment but declined to say anything.

Proud Union Labour Activists

This collage is from the "Unions together" TULO Rally in London on Monday. Last week Ed Miliband and UNISON General Secretary, Dave Prentis, spoke at the national TULO rally in Birmingham with over 1000 union members present.

General secretary of the GMB, Paul Kenny, was the first main speaker and he compared the huge number of people who are now forced to beg for insecure jobs on poverty wages with what happened in the London Docks in the 19th century. He pointed out that the Sunday Times Rich list reported that the personal wealth of the richest had doubled since 2010 while working people have had their income slashed. He condemned UKIP for attacking the exploited and not the exploiters.

Next was Jack Elliot, a GMB member and grass roots Labour Party activist, who first voted in 1945. He attacked the ultra left Party TUSC for betraying workers, working with racists and doing what they can to let the Tories win. To loud cheers, he told us that "he had a go" at the Trotskyist newspaper sellers outside as he came in.  He called for a real unity of all things and vote Labour.

UNISON Branch secretary Emine Ibrahim spoke passionately about the 18% cut in wages in real terms for Council staff since 2010. How her members cannot pay their bills and rely on loan sharks to survive until pay day. She called on all of us to work in the marginal seats to bring about a Labour victory.

Unite General Secretary, Len McCluskey, urged all union members to vote Labour and get rid of the Tories. The Tories are the party of fear while Labour is the party of hope. Reject the Tory path to food bank and rip off Britain. Make sure the super rich and corporate elite pay their bloody taxes! Ed Miliband and Labour put hope back into politics. Vote for Change. Vote Labour and kick the Tories out and build a better Britain.

London Assembly member, Tom Copley, described his job has trying to keep his eye on Boris as London Mayor. A difficult job since Boris he is rarely at his post as Mayor. Tom urged union members to remember the 11 million people who rent their homes from private landlords and how important it is for them to have a Labour government, who will cap rent rises and introduce 3 year tenancies.

Manuel Cortes, from the railway union TSSA believes that Labour leader Ed Miliband will rebalance our society and economy away from the interests of the top 1,000, who have increased their wealth by £250 billion since 2010. He is really pleased that Labour have promised an industrial policy if they win power.

He reminded us that Ed has said that it is not leaders that change the world but movements.

TUC General Secretary, Frances O'Grady, began by stating that she was proud to be the daughter of immigrants and proud of the role that people like her mother made to the NHS as a nurse. She looked forward to a Labour government introducing worker reps on company remuneration committees to stop greed at the top. She thought the Tories claim to be "the workers party" as convincing as Cameron's claim to support West Ham FC.

Last speaker was Uma Kumaran, the Labour candidate for Harrow East in London. When she speaks to people and says she is a trade unionist, some say she doesn't look like one. She replies that it does not matter what you look like to be a trade unionist but do you believe in common decency for all and standing together in order to achieve it.  

London Underground Strike

The first 48 hour strike has just started. Checked out here TSSA account of the background to the strike rather than the Tory media (or the KGB Standard).

Labour Party Conference 2010: London Underground Strikes

I think that this is the time to remember the TSSA railway union General Secretary, Gerry Doherty's dignified speech to conference last Monday afternoon in support of Composite 7. 

Last night and today there was strike action by TSSA and the RMT in London over job cuts. 

Gerry pointed out that his "union has taken strike action for the first time since the General Strike of 1926. TSSA is a traditionally moderate trade union which is being forced to take strike action due to the Bullingdon Champagne Mayor (Boris Johnson) trying to cut 800 jobs without regard to health and safety on the underground.  The Lib Dems claims that they want to take the unions with them, but their Lord Snooty pals are dismantling the welfare state! They need to stop attacking the very people who they asked to vote for them. 

Warning we will take you on - even the non militant unions.  This is not meant as a threat or a promise.  We have no choice when they come for us - we will have to be in this together.  This movement has to come together and say we will not let them take us on one by one. 

On Monday the action will be another reason to vote for Ken". 

Unions urge their members “Vote Labour on May 6th

This is another excellent video from “Unions Together”. Featuring a number of trade union activists explaining why they are voting for Labour and asking their members to do so as well. Included is TSSA and East Ham Labour Party activist, Amarjit Singh, and our very own UNISON “Lollypop lady”, Louise Couling, who is of course standing for Labour against BNP Barnbrook in Barking and Dagenham.

There is an important call for Union members to volunteer to help out on polling day. I know from past experience that on the day Union members will simply turn up at polling stations and offer to help out.  Many more will volunteer if they are asked.