UNISON NEC nominate Christina McAnea to be our General Secretary

 

This morning I was present, as an elected lay member of the UNISON National Executive Committee at the NEC hustings in the UNISON centre, London of candidates standing to be our next General Secretary.  Christina McAnea is the existing UNISON General Secretary and is re-standing for a second term.

After hearing the speeches of both candidates, I voted in favour of nominating Christina McAnea. The NEC voted overwhelming for Christina to be our nominee. 

In the next few weeks UNISON branches, regional councils and service groups will be voting on who to nominate to this absolutely key position in the union. Please attend these nomination meetings and please support Christina. I will post further on why. 

Murad Qureshi Standing up for City & East

'We need an experienced City and East representative like Murad, who can hit the ground running. With his strong track record of effectively holding the London Mayor to account, he offers all the people of East London a campaigning GLA member who will deliver results from day one of his election.'  Cllr John Gray (& UNISON)

Many eligible voters have already take part in the election for the Greater London Assembly City & East Labour candidate but there is still another 2 weeks of the ballot to go. There is even a hustings arranged for next week!

"As well as choosing our next Leader, Deputy Leader and Mayoral candidate, as a member in City and East London you will also get the chance to choose who you want to represent you as Labour's candidate for the London Assembly.

Before you vote you can put the candidates to the test in a hustings on Wednesday 2 September from 7pm at Queen Mary University. This is your chance to put your questions to the candidates and hear them make their case for why the want to represent City and East London on the Greater London Assembly".

East London Labour Mayoral Hustings: #YesWeKhan

This afternoon there was a London Labour Party Mayoral candidate hustings at the historic Old Town Hall in Stratford, East London 

West Ham MP, Lyn Brown, local Councillors and other Party supporters held a stall outside on behalf of candidate, Sadiq Khan and encouraged local Labour voters to sign up and become "Party Supporters" for only £3. 

I had volunteered with local West Ham CLP members to help out with the registration of people at the door coming to the event (and sell them raffle tickets - see picture of the dynamic trio with back drop of Keir Hardie statute, who was elected as the first ever Labour MP in this same town hall in 1892). 

All six Labour mayoral candidates were present. The newly elected Tower Hamlets Executive Mayor, John Biggs, chaired the meeting. 

Since I was on the door I missed the beginning of the hustings and then left to go back after 30 minutes. My initial thoughts were that the panel all looked a little nervous and very serious. 

Diane Abbot spoke first and said she should be the candidate since due to her TV and media work people all over London know her and unlike former ministers, she also has the personality to win a London Mayoral election. 

Gareth Thomas said he was the only outer London Labour politician standing, who also knows how to fight these marginal seats and how to win for Labour in outer London. He is a street fighter while his opponents all come from safe inner London seats. 

Sadiq Khan said he wanted to be someone who having been born and bred in a London council estate and was the son of a London bus driver, wants to be the candidate who will represents all of London. 

David Lammy made clear that he wanted be the young, active and independent of party candidate who could defeat Zac Goldsmith. 

Tessa Jowell  compared herself to Hillary Clinton, and pointed out that if she win, she will be the youngest ever female mayor of London (think about it).

After 30 minutes I went back to the front door to let another member of the registration team go and listen. I understand things got a little heated later on with questions about building on the Green belt, the number of social housing homes in the Olympic Park and the relaxation of gambling laws.  

Talking to people as they left it seemed that they did learn from and enjoy this event. 

Nuf said. 

West Ham Labour Party European Parliament Hustings 28 May

In June, Labour Party members across London will be asked to vote to preference six candidates to stand for Labour in the 2014 European Parliament elections. To help you decide, West Ham Labour Party will be hosting a hustings event where you will get an opportunity to meet and question all of the candidates.



West Ham Labour  Party with sponsorship by London UNISON Labour Link presents:


The London Labour Party Euro Hustings
Tuesday 28 May
7.30pm at Vicarage Lane Community Centre, Govier Close, Stratford, E15 4HW 

All Labour Party members and affiliates are welcome. Venue only a few minutes walk from Stratford Town Centre.

At the event we will also be hosting The ULTIMATE EURO QUIZ a Raffle and Auction. A drinks bar and nibbles will be available.

Best wishes

David Christie
West Ham Vice Chair Membership

West Ham Leadership Hustings: 7.30pm Sunday 18 July at Stratford

 West Ham CLP are putting on a hustings event sponsored by London UNISON Labour Link on Sunday 18 July in Stratford E15, the heart of the 2012 Olympics and the historic home of the first ever Labour MP.

London UNISON Labour Link is sponsoring the event and is writing to all 1100 union members in West Ham who pay the Labour Party political levy and inviting them to this meeting.

I am contacting the political officers of all the affiliated unions in West Ham to ask them to do the same.

Please pass this on to any Party members or levy players.

If everyone can bring photo identification with them.

West Ham CLP "deputy Leadership" hustings 2007 here and here.