SELECTION FRAUD CASE: Readers have contacted this website after they failed to receive official notification from their party.
EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES

Labour’s shambolic handling of its parliamentary selection for the new Croydon East seat has taken another downward spiral, with several members in the constituency contacting this website to complain that they had received no official update from the party.

Given that an investigation has been conducted by the Labour Party for the past three months into how their membership lists had been fiddled and altered without authorisation, the party’s failure to communicate with some of its members appears to be evidence that their problems are far from being fixed.

Inside Croydon reported earlier this week that Labour had admitted that there was an attempt at electoral fraud conducted in its parliamentary selection in Croydon East, involving the compromising of the personal data of more than 500 members.

Labour sent out a message to members in which they said that they had reported a serious data breach to the Information Commissioners’ Office – an admission that the party had failed in its data protection duties.

The party’s email also stated that “some of the personal details of Labour members in the Croydon East constituency were altered on the Labour Party membership database without authorisation”.

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The Labour email continued: “Based on our extensive investigations into this incident, we do not believe that any of your data was removed from our systems.

“The issue appears to have been confined to the unauthorised amendment of some of the data on our systems.”

Labour also announced this week that it is to resume selection for its candidate to stand in May’s GLA elections for the Croydon and Sutton constituency.

Some members have contacted Inside Croydon saying that while they had received the GLA notification, they had had no email regarding the parliamentary selection.

That email, as published by this website, included a deadline for members to update their personal information of midnight last night. “The Labour Party will conduct additional checks on any changes made to personal information prior to this deadline to ensure they are legitimate,” the email warned.

“Thanks for the report, Inside Croydon,” one loyal reader emailed. “I am a Labour member in Croydon East, and I have not received that email.”

Another wrote: “I got the party’s email about the GLA selection. But nothing else. I had to read about it on Inside Croydon.”

A former local party official told us: “I just checked on Labour Hub and, though my contact details are fine, I didn’t get the email. Conspiracy compounded by cock-up?

“I recently asked Carole [Bonner, the CLP’s chair] and Melanie [Fenton, the CLP secretary] to update on what was going on but they do not even bother to reply.

“Members, and candidates, have been treated with disdain in Croydon East.”

And another Croydon East member wrote: “Carole Bonner blamed me for having turned off my email notification settings even though I have never changed them. I can see they are all on but I still don’t receive anything and only read about this today on this excellent website.

“Meanwhile, I have been receiving emails asking me to renew my membership. Multiple emails to the membership team have gone unreplied, too.

“I’m disgusted to be treated like this and after [now] I realise my personal data has been compromised and I have not been informed!”

More than 48 hours after Labour’s initial email, and following their Thursday midnight deadline for checking on the details of some of Croydon East’s members, the party has still to make any formal announcement about the resumption of its parliamentary selection process or, indeed, whether all four of the shortlisted candidates will be allowed to go forward to the long-delayed selection meeting.

Given that the party has admitted that “some of the personal details of Labour members in the Croydon East constituency were altered on the Labour Party membership database without authorisation”, it is reasonable to assume that this was done in an effort to provide advantage at least one of the candidates for selection.

Anonyvoters: Mark and Maddie Henson with Labour’s head honcho David Evans (right). The Hensons have found nothing wrong with their IT system

Labour has refused to answer questions from Inside Croydon over who was responsible for the data alterations it admits it has discovered, and what action they are taking as a result.

And despite Croydon East members failing to receive proper emailed notification from the Labour Party, officials were peddling the “nothing to see here” line to their pet publication, Labour List, this week.

Labour List quoted a party spokesperson claiming that “all members had been written to with the outcome of the probe”. Which obviously is not true.

“Remedial work has taken place and data restored and the selection process will resume shortly,” the Labour official told Labour List.

“The Labour Party takes the protection of personal information and the rights of Labour Party members very seriously, which is why there has been a thorough investigation into the selection process in Croydon East.”

A “thorough investigation”, the results of which remain a closely guarded secret. From Labour Party members.

Labour List also included official denials that there was anything wrong with the Anonyvoter system that is used to conduct local selections.

Mark Hanson, who was imposed as Croydon East’s CLP’s interim treasurer, is the co-owner of the IT company which supplies Anonyvoter to the Labour Party. Maddie Hanson, his wife and business partner, a Croydon councillor, is one of only two candidates on the shortlist for the GLA selection.

Labour List reported: “A spokesperson for Anonyvoter”, so that’s either Mark Hanson or Maddie Hanson, “also said ‘the Croydon East data breach is entirely unconnected to Anonyvoter’,”.

So, “Nuffink to do with us, Guv!” Well that’s cleared that up, then.

The Anonyvoter spokesperson – Mark or Maddie – told the Labour-backing website, “We have regular checks on the integrity of our systems and databases and have never found anything to suggest that our security has ever been compromised.”

“Never”. “Ever”.

Croydon East CLP under Bonner, Fenton and Henson, formed in October last year, has never held a meeting, and members are still awaiting their first AGM – which was supposed to be staged last autumn – for the opportunity to elect their own officials.

In the Croydon East parliamentary election, the Tories – with Jason Cummings, the Conservative councillor who helped push through last year’s 15% Council Tax hike – and the Greens – Peter Underwood – have already chosen their candidates.

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Read more: #TheLabourFiles: MP Reed, Evans and the Croydon connection
Read more: The fix is in: Labour excludes members from Croydon selection
Read more: Croydon Labour’s ‘hidden primary’ will choose a new MP
Read more: Labour’s NEC imposes selection shortlist on Croydon East

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