Cowardly tactic continues – ever more shamelessly
The Starmer regime grows ever more shameless in its use of anti-democratic tactics to prevent left candidates standing for election. Nobbling candidates by suspending or expelling them before a selection contest has become commonplace – assuming a left candidate even gets as far as the long- or shortlist, which has become almost unheard-of.
But now, in the rare event that a left-winger manages to get as far as a vote by local members, the party is increasingly removing those whom members want to have represent them at the ballot box – even when that selection is overwhelming.
Below is a report from a Sheffield member on the Labour regime’s tactics to remove an overwhelmingly-selected left-winger and impose a right-wing candidate who couldn’t even get 15% of the vote in the original contest – and despite local members saying they would refuse to campaign for an imposed drone:
Ecclesall Branch selection shambles
A left candidate won our selection process by a large margin in the first round of voting with 43 members in attendance.
Subsequently, he was informed he was facing expulsion.
At the next ward meeting it was agreed that the chair would convey the feelings of the branch that the expulsion of our candidate was unacceptable.
A few days later he was told he had been expelled from the Party for allegedly being a supporter of Labour Against the Witchhunt years before it was proscribed.
At Hallam CLP, an emergency motion that endorsed his selection, called on the constituency to protest his expulsion and refuse to campaign for an imposed candidate, was ruled out of order. The chair (a self-proclaimed ‘libertarian socialist’!) refused to take a challenge to his ruling. A vote of no confidence was narrowly lost 29 to 35. As a result 25 comrades then left the meeting in protest at not hearing the motion or challenge.
Ecclesall Branch then announced a selection meeting with a short list of one – the hard right candidate who had indicated that they would not be seeking the candidacy having failed to get more than 15% of the vote when Lee was selected.
The chair was challenged over his failure to act on his commitments from the previous meeting but this was ruled out of order. A vote of no confidence in the chair was also ruled out of order.
It was announced that the motion to proceed selection was not necessary – the logic being that if the candidate was not selected they would be imposed anyway. The stooge candidate was then selected.
Keir Starmer and his cronies are cowards – and so vacuous that they cannot make an argument, let alone win it – but they have no hesitation in resorting to trampling on or simply ignoring democracy to get their way, confident that their mates in the media will ignore it or actively cover for them.
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