THE LIST of Labour's 'approved' candidates for the new Greater London Assembly has recently been released, and it makes dismal reading. Rather than seeking nomination from constituencies and trade unions, those wanting to be candidates merely had to put themselves forward.
A panel then looked at the nomination papers, invited some to interview, and drew up a list after hearing appeals against rejection.
The system was a fix from the start. Self-nomination was supposedly to ensure a better ethnic and gender mix of candidates. In fact only 27% of those on the list are women. Rather self-nomination and vetting was designed to ensure that left and independentminded candidates who might be popular in the party could not get onto the assembly.
The vetting panel established by the Greater London Labour Party Board was stacked with Blairites, supplemented with 'independents' such as arch witch-hunter joyce Gould. Candidates had to submit papers spelling out, among other things their "life experience" and "vision for London". Many were rejected for having the "wrong kind" of life experience and vision for London, despite the Party never having spelt out what was expected. Others were rejected for not submitting sufficient information, despite it never having been made clear how much was expected. The vetting panels supposedly looked at nominees papers "blind" (without knowing the names), but it does not take a genius to read such a submission and work out the politics and even identity of the candidate. All this is an attempt to cover up political decisions with pseudo science. Among those rejected for inclusion in the list are Geoff Martin, London Region convenor of UNISON, and Christine Shawcroft, 13 years a Councillor in Tower HamDeselected - but elected: Canavan lets. Also rejected are some right wingers obviously deemed too independently-minded, and some who have spent at least a decade doing the Labour leadership's bidding, but are obviously still not to be trusted because they were left wingers in the early '80s. But it is among black candidates that the list is so obviously politically biased. While the list does include black candidates such as journalist Trevor Phillips, it excludes several who actually have a record of building black and antiracist organisations. Kumar Murshid, Tower Hamlets councillor and chair of the National Assembly Against Racism, is excluded, as is Raj Jethwa, the London Labour Party's own Ethnic Minorities Officer. The most hypocritical decision of all is to include Kathryn Smith, Bexley Labour Group leader, despite a reported admission that her membership was not continuous for 12 months, while excluding Lee Jasper, Chair of Operation Black Vote for the same reason.
The list does, however, include 8 Council leaders, obviously looking for a step up the career and earnings ladder. Overall the list is bland, with an extremely limited political range.
The nomination process for candidates is due to start in June with trade union and constituency branches making nominations to constituency parties. Instead, branches should refuse to nominate from this sanitised list and send in resolutions condemning the whole procedure and calling for the process to be re-opened. Activists should point to the election results in Wales and Scotland (particularly Dennis Canavan's) as showing how such manipulation only rebounds against the party.