Edgbaston MP says she was never going to be present at votes to decide whether she will face selection contest and that notice of her attendance was ‘honest mistake’ by Facebook admin
Labour members in Birmingham Edgbaston have complained that local MP Preet Kaur Gill was to attend ‘trigger‘ votes this week that will decide whether she automatically remains as the party’s candidate in the next election or faces a selection contest. Labour rules do not permit MPs to be present at trigger meetings.
A notice published by the Edgbaston CLP (constituency Labour party) to remind members about their branch meetings stated that Gill would be there “to answer any questions you have about her activities and voting record”:
A spokesperson for Ms Gill said that she had never planned to attend the meetings and that it was an ‘honest mistake’ by the CLP:
I have spoken to the CLP about your enquiry. They told me that one of the people managing their Edgbaston CLP Facebook page made an honest mistake about Preet’s attendance. They were not aware of the rule prohibiting MPs from being present at the Reselection/Trigger Ballot meetings. After being made aware of their mistake by other members of the CLP, they have since amended their post and apologized for the confusion.
Preet knows the rules and was not planning on attending any of the meetings.
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 or here for a monthly donation via GoCardless. Thanks for your solidarity so this blog can keep bringing you information the Establishment would prefer you not to know about.
If you wish to reblog this post for non-commercial use, you are welcome to do so – see here for more.
The business of being an MP and the adjective ‘Honest’ are just non-compatible.
Mind you, the same applies to certain gobshites what infest this site with nowt better to do than annoy people.
You mean ‘real’ people… people like you… people who’d never fake an ee-by-goom-lad-what-nowt argot for cred with the oiks who aren’t being paid by the word… right?
Sussed!
Now – about those mates down at the ‘ale-house’…..
Errr….If you like, yeah.
*Scratches head*
(Oh and if that’s meant to be a Yorkshire accent then it’ll be spelt/spoken as: ‘Paired bah t’wurd’ – not: ‘Paid by the word’…Happy to help.)
Born in Leeds but thanks for t’advice.
That explains it then 😀
Our four branches of Edgbaston, Harborne, Bartley Green & Quinton will be voting from today in that order. Bartley Green and Quinton will vote together as Bartley Green doesn’t have many members. We all make mistakes and I am sure that this will not happen again?
I do feel that open selection would have been so much better. Perhaps, UNISON members can get a grip on their leadership and tell them that at next conference they should support democracy for a change.
Open selection would of course be more democratic than our current system.
One person one vote is more democratic in every situation than appointing delegates as our proxies.
Continuous referenda on every issue with votes counted by the second are technically the ultimate form of democracy but also the least effective – unless the only criterion is “What do the people think at this instant?”
For OPOV to provide good decisions every person needs to understand every aspect of every question.
It’s believed that a referendum on the subject would see the return of hanging. Tories, defenders of democracy that they are, will probably hold that referendum to distract us from their failings again the next time they’re cornered by the worst of their party.
I was today phoned by my CLP asking me if I supported Mark Hendrick, my Co-op MP.
I was obliged to express neutrality, having only publicly-available information on his so-so voting record to go by.
Because I’m only a democrat, not a seer.
Could have avoided all this CRAP by adopting Open Selection at the Liverpool Conference. Chris Williamson backed this rule change in his ‘Democracy Roadshow’ but the unions scuppered it. Is that why he’s been targeted for suspension??
Does the pope poop in the woods, Sparky?