MPs Power Grab
Under both Ed Miliband and Jeremy Corbyn we saw attempts to make the Labour Party more democratic. Under our new leadership we see a faction aligned with New Labour turning back the clock. Party decisions will be made not in smoke filled rooms, but in a hotel suite tippling rather nice wines. The big losers will be ordinary party members and their CLPs.
There will be more parachuted candidates like we saw in the Hartlepool by-election. Long and short lists will consist of only leadership approved candidates. This can be seen in the party’s new Future Candidates Programme where only those applicants following the leadership line were accepted while any from the left were rejected.
An unnamed party source says those rejected were ‘piss poor’. Want to know what’s piss poor? It’s little careerist bag carriers taking the ‘piss’ out of the members. They made an official who deserted the party to join the Tory renegades in Change UK and then came back from that disaster, the new leading party official in Liverpool.
Members will be just cannon fodder pounding the streets during election campaigns. Very much a case of lions being led by donkeys except that’s an insult to donkeys. Do they really think they can win an election with no boots on the ground?
When we say turning the clock back on party democracy, in reality it’s far worse. We will end with far less member power than the party has ever had in the past. Remember that evenin 1983 Tony Blair was visiting branches in the then new Sedgefield CLP calling members “Comrade” in order to get on the short list.
The new candidate selection model is becoming clear. Candidates will be imposed on CLPs. If there is choice of candidates on a long or short list they will all be those following the leadership factional line. Anyone who is a danger to the favoured candidate or candidates will never make it onto a NEC approved list. Don’t expect many local candidates this way.
The leadership seems to have no qualms as hundreds of thousand members either leave in disgust or are driven out of the party on fake charges. Where will the party’s funds now come from? Even unions are cutting back on funding or even disaffiliating altogether. I think we can guess it will come from rich City types who will expect a return on their investment. What will Labour then be except another version of the Tories.
It’s time to fight back. Insist that local parties and their members have the right to choose the most suitable candidates. Join the Open Selection 2022 Campaign today by signing up here. Spread the word in your local branches and CLPs that this will be the most important rule change at the 2022 party conference.
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