It is five months since the Labour Party established a local organisation to run its affairs in the new parliamentary constituency of Croydon East. There has never been a democratic general meeting of members of the Croydon East CLP to elect officials to run its affairs.
Starbucks socialism…: when with Labour in Croydon East enter into any dialogue with members?
Instead, Labour’s London region imposed “interim” officials on the CLP: Newman Numpty ex-councillor Carole Bonner as chair, Melanie Felton (who?) as secretary and Mark Henson (husband of Newman Numpty councillor Maddie Henson) as treasurer.
The members in the new constituency – drawn from parts of the old Croydon Central and bits of Croydon South – certainly did not get a say in the shortlisting of the people who want to stand for the party in the very winnable seat at the forthcoming General Election.
It is almost two months since that selection process was abruptly halted by officials from Labour head office, after serious allegations of voter fraud and problems with an online voting system.
Since when, Labour Party members in the constituency have heard nuffink. They’ve even had comments “switched off” on the CLP’s Facebook group.
It is now more than a week since one of Croydon East CLP’s long-suffering members wrote to the interim officials. They have now released that as an open letter…
Hi Melanie, Thanks for your email of 6 September… that promises that you will organise an inaugural annual general meeting of the new Croydon East Labour Party in order to elect officers.
I wonder if you, as ‘interim secretary’ could give me some indication of when this is likely to occur.
Given the time that has passed since your communication, I would be grateful for a prompt response. You will recall that I contacted you in November three times about the Croydon East Facebook page. I have still received no reply.
Shadowy: Starmer’s party ignores its Croydon East members
As I explained on the Croydon East Facebook page, I am under no illusion that I am owed any degree of courtesy.
I do believe, however, that, as a member of a democratic party I am owed a transparent and fair selection process when we, as a constituency party, select our prospective parliamentary candidate.
Given that the process has been suspended under the auspices of the centrally imposed ‘interim officers’ (you, Carole Bonner and Mark Henson) and that there has been no communication either from you as secretary, nor from Carole Bonner as chair (and also, self-described – self-appointed? – ‘Selection Secretary’), I would suggest that the need to establish democratically elected and accountable officers for Croydon East is more urgent than ever.
We can only do this if, as ‘interim secretary’, you call a meeting.
To be clear, the fact that there is an ongoing enquiry into potential corruption of the selection process is not a reason to suspend the natural democratic process of constituting Croydon East by the election of officers chosen by and scrutinised by members. Just the opposite. We need democratically elected officers in order to ensure a credible process and ensure we select the best possible candidate to take on the Conservatives and be the best possible representative for the voters of Croydon East.
I look forward to your response.
Failing that, I look forward to the announcement of an inaugural meeting of Croydon East Labour Party so that members have the opportunity to select officers who they can trust to run a fair selection process, so that candidates, who themselves have been needlessly put through the mill, can be treated with respect, and so that voters can have confidence in Labour’s candidate.
By the time of publication, there has been no acknowledgement nor reply.
Read more: Labour cancels Croydon selection after voting fraud claims
Read more: #TheLabourFiles: MP Reed, Evans and the Croydon connection
Read more: The fix is in: Labour excludes members from Croydon selection
Read more: Labour’s NEC imposes selection shortlist on Croydon East
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