In July Claire Kober, the leader of Haringey Council in London, was forced to fight off a vote of no confidence by fellow councillors after accusations of ‘social cleansing’ resulting from the highly controversial ‘Haringey Development Vehicle’ (HDV).
The HDV is a public-private property development partnership that locals claim has been pushed through without consulting them and will damage the local community. Locals have tried to fight it in court and a local councillor has said he is so disgusted by Ms Kober’s behaviour, including alleged ‘interference’ in council candidate selections, that he will step down as a councillor rather than stand alongside her as a candidate in next spring’s local elections.
So it was with some delight that right-wing Labour figures greeted the reselection of Ms Kober – who was supported by the right-wing Evening Standard – as the council candidate for Seven Sisters ward. However, there were also tweets by locals expressing disquiet about how that reselection was achieved.
The reasons for the disquiet have been passed to the SKWAWKBOX – and the allegations, if true, are indeed disturbing.
The likely timetable for candidate selections, in wards across the country where local elections will be contested next May, has been known for some time. In autumn 2016, a suspicious spike in memberships was noted in Seven Sisters ward by the executive of Tottenham CLP (constituency Labour party) – around sixty-five new members over a 2-week period, with twenty on a single day.
The most suspicious factor was the high incidence of whole families joining at once and recording the same mobile number and email address for all members of the family, including teenagers. The email addresses were business ones, not personal ones. All were reduced (concessionary) membership and paid through a single credit card transaction.
The matter was reported to Labour’s London region and to compliance by the Tottenham ‘exec’, who advised that no action could be taken on the basis of shared email addresses and mobile numbers.
Apparently, none of the new members turned up for any branch activities.
In December 2016, the LCF (local campaign forum) met and began discussing a timetable for selection. Locals allege that Ms Kober surprised the meeting by insisting on a timetable that would not begin until September 2017 – and that she had canvassed support for this and it was agreed, by a majority of one vote.
This commencement date meant that the new members in Seven Sisters would be able to vote in the selection because they joined before the January freeze date. However, the new members were also due to lapse a year after they had joined.
By the time selections were due to begin all were due to renew their subscriptions. They began lapsing or falling into arrears in large numbers. In October 2017, locals allege that Ms Kober began lobbying the LCF to hurry the selections. Even though, the initial stage of selection was still incomplete, Ms Kober allegedly wrote to the LCF repeatedly, arguing that selections needed to begin without delay.
On the night of the Seven Sisters shortlisting meeting more than forty ‘in arrears’ members paid at the door of the meeting to bring their membership fees up to date. Witnesses present at the meeting say that whole families with ‘bewildered-looking’ teens arrived and over £700 in cash was handed over – some alleged as much as £1,000:
Ms Kober won the selection vote.
Local members insist that the circumstances surrounding Ms Kober’s reselection are suspicious. It appears that there is enough cause for concern that Labour’s regional office and the local board should investigate and, if suspicions prove to be well-founded, re-run the selection meeting ensuring that only bona fide members participate.
Ms Kober was contacted for comment. At the time of publication, some six hours after the deadline offered, she has not responded.
The SKWAWKBOX needs your support. This blog is provided free of charge but depends on the generosity of its readers to be viable. If you can afford to, please click here to arrange a one-off or modest monthly donation via PayPal. Thanks for your solidarity so this blog can keep bringing you information the Establishment would prefer you not to know about.
The Right Wing having recognised the paucity of their own arguments have realised the only way they can win is to cheat.
This is shocking. It is completely blatant corruption.
If these suspicions are correct then Ms Kober will of course have to be expelled from the Labour Party.
Hmmm…
Homes for votes, or votes for homes?
Votes for no homes
Be about right… :/
‘Surprisingly’ the Evening Standard has a somewhat different take on this story
Jeremy Corbyn supporters in bid to oust Haringey council leader
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/corbyn-supporters-in-bid-to-oust-haringey-council-leader-a3685376.html
Haringey Council leader Claire Kober fights off left-wing plot to be re-selected by Labour party
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/haringey-council-leader-claire-kober-fights-off-leftwing-plot-to-be-reselected-by-labour-party-a3685886.html
To
Sorry for the duplication, you are welcome to delete one of them. The trigger appears to be more than one link.
regards Steve.
No point reporting anything to London Region.
London Region has been actively complicit in subverting selection processes across London and has repeatedly justified secretive, undemocratic and unaccountable practices in contravention of official Labour Party Rules.
It’s internal gerrymandering and the Labour Party needs to get a grip on it because ultimately, everybody except the bureacrats and those complicit in making it happen, suffer in the long run.
‘Surprisingly’ the Evening Standard has a somewhat different take on this story. Aren’t the MSM wonderful?
Jeremy Corbyn supporters in bid to oust Haringey council leader
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/corbyn-supporters-in-bid-to-oust-haringey-council-leader-a3685376.html
Haringey Council leader Claire Kober fights off left-wing plot to be re-selected by Labour party
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/haringey-council-leader-claire-kober-fights-off-leftwing-plot-to-be-reselected-by-labour-party-a3685886.html
I am surprised that my comment is ‘awaiting moderation’, all I am doing is contrasting the report above with what is being reported in MSM
I think links trigger moderation again as a WordPress default – put them in quotes to avoid the trigger
I think that moderation usually happens if you provide more than one link.
It’s only ever happened to me when I’ve linked to more than one article or posted gifs/memes.
I can hardly wait to read Nick Cohen’s denunciation of this in next Sunday’s Observer!
The Evening Standard has already given its own ‘unique’ spin on this.
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/haringey-council-leader-claire-kober-fights-off-leftwing-plot-to-be-reselected-by-labour-party-a3685886.html
The Evening Standard obviously wants to keep their readers in the dark. I left a comment on their article with a link to this article.
My comment was very neutral
“Or for an alternative perspective on this story, try this” (+link)
Unfortunately my comment has been taken down by the ES
Steve: I just checked and your comment is still there (and has it as being posted six hours ago)
Thanks Allan, honestly at the time of writing I’d just checked and my comments had vanished, despite other comments being there. I can only presume that it was flagged for review and then on reflection they decided it was fairly innocuous after all.
Or should I say it’s there again…..
Reblogged this on Hercules space.
IT APPEARS Ms. KOBER IS A NO GOOD CHEAT WHO WILL DO ANYTHING TO GET HERSELF RE ELECTED NO MATTER THE COST TO HER OR THE ELECTORATE ON THE RIGHT!
ALLEGEDLY!