“None of my fellow Bernie Grant Leadership Programme alumni have been selected. We were told the Party would support us towards leadership positions as black and ethnic minority activists – yet after this longlisting process, nothing has changed.”
Members’ representative on Labour’s National Executive Committee Mish Rahman has today been blocked from the longlist in the Wolverhampton West parliamentary selection in another anti-democratic move against left wing voices in the Party. You can read his full statement below:
I have been informed by the Labour Party that I have not made the longlist in the Wolverhampton West Parliamentary selection, despite gaining strong local support and the backing of seven trade unions and affiliates.
This is not a shock – it is what I and my team expected. None of my fellow Bernie Grant Leadership Programme alumni have been selected. We were told the Party would support us towards leadership positions as black and ethnic minority activists – yet after this longlisting process, nothing has changed.
As a two term, currently elected member of Labour’s NEC, I have chaired panels for longlisting in other Parliamentary selections – I am therefore allowed to longlist candidates but not to be longlisted myself.
I was blocked for how I voted on the NEC in relation to the composition of party disciplinary structures, following the EHRC Report. This was a position shared by an array of NEC members, including trade union representatives. Being blocked for casting a vote in a democratic process should be a serious concern for all of us in the Labour Party.
I was honoured to win so much support from our Labour family in this selection. To the FBU, CWU, ASLEF, TSSA, Unite the Union, SEA and SHA – thank you.
Thank you also to the hundreds of members who signed up to my campaign. I am not planning on going anywhere. I will be at the NPF this weekend and will continue to represent members on the NEC for the remainder of my term and beyond.
- Mish Rahman is a members’ representative on Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC). You can follow him on Facebook and Twitter.
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