“There is a substantial body of evidence supporting the claim that Labour’s Parliamentary selections are being rigged.”
By Lorcan Whitehead, Momentum National Secretary
Parliamentary selections matter. They may not excite the media in the same way a salacious story might, but they’re far more consequential. As the Tories self-immolate and Labour looks set to win potentially hundreds of seats at the next election, the identity of its next MPs matters hugely. In the elective dictatorship that is British Parliamentary democracy, they’re one of the only handbrakes on a Starmer government.
That’s why it’s so concerning to see allegations of systematic vote rigging in Labour’s Parliamentary selections via the online Anonyvoter system. But despite the bombshell report in the Telegraph emerging nearly a month ago, mainstream media have largely ignored this scandal, helping the Labour Leadership’s efforts to sweep the matter under the carpet without investigation. Yet the allegations are extremely serious – and the case for the prosecution is compelling.
Motive: plainly the Labour Leadership want to rig selections for its political allies on the Right of the party, shaping the PLP for years to come and ensuring a pliable majority after the next election, as the Leadership prepares to implement more unpopular austerity. It has already shown a willingness to stitch up selections, and boasted of ensuring the selection of ‘Keir’s people’.
Opportunity: as the Telegraph article showed, and Momentum has argued, it would be astonishingly easy to rig Labour’s Parliamentary selections. Most have been held at least partially online using the Anonyvoter system owned by two figures on the Labour Right with links to Starmer’s General Secretary David Evans. It is open to abuse: votes can be added manually, with admins generating codes; votes can be added after the advertised end of the poll; and the identity of voters is known to admins.
Means: Labour’s selections are overseen by Labour staffers who overwhelmingly hail from the party’s right wing. It is worth noting that one of the key recommendations from the Forde Report was for party staffers to adopt a neutral status akin to civil servants. Labour rejected it. A key safeguard that could be in place – independent tellers – is in fact a function of Anonyvoter and often used in councillor selections; yet it isn’t enabled for Labour’s Parliamentary selections.
That’s not all. There is a substantial body of evidence supporting the claim that Labour’s Parliamentary selections are being rigged. Two of the biggest examples involve the reselection battles of sitting MPs Sam Tarry and Beth Winter, both members of the Socialist Campaign Group. Both were forced out in favour of Starmerite allies in highly controversial circumstances, involving multiple allegations of malfeasance by the Labour machine.
In each case, Anonyvoter played a leading role, with both Tarry and Winter winning their selection contests (via hustings and postal ballots respectively) before Anonyvoter came into play. While Winter has pressed the Welsh Labour executive to review matters, Tarry has submitted an official complaint to Labour alleging vote rigging.
Nor are they alone. The investigative journalist Michael Crick has raised the possibility of Labour selections across the country being rigged using Anonyvoter, including for relatives of high-profile Labour figures. In one other selection cited by the Telegraph, a Leadership-aligned candidate won just 10% of the vote at the hustings… but 62% online.
Yet Labour refuse to recognise there is an issue, instead insisting that, somehow, there is nothing to see here. This stonewalling approach has continued even as four Labour-affiliated unions wrote to David Evans demanding answers and the suspension of the use of Anonyvoter. Calls from Tarry, Winter and Momentum for an independent, KC-led investigation into Labour’s Parliamentary selections have also gone unheeded. It is an insult to democracy and to Labour members.
All of this is a far cry from Keir Starmer’s two-faced promise to Labour’s members and affiliated unions to “end NEC impositions” and “let local members decide their candidates”. But of course, we’ve known for a long time how worthless this pledge is, with dozens of left-wingers blocked from Labour’s Parliamentary selections up and down the country.
From working-class fighters like Lauren Townsend and Matt Kerr, to anti-racist activists like Maurice Mcleod, to former candidates and even MPs, popular local candidates have been prevented from even standing for selection by Team Starmer, undermining the rights of trade unions and local members. The pretext at every turn has been ‘due diligence’, itself a vehicle for purging. Meanwhile, right-wingers like Azhar Ali and Darren Rodwell face ‘no due diligence’, and even get party support after scandals break.
What we see is two pillars of a strategy to totally reshape the Parliamentary Labour Party on an unprecedented scale. The result will be a cohort of right-wing Labour MPs from the professional political class, further growing the divide between communities and a disconnected Westminster class.
The endgame is clear. The Labour Leadership is gearing up to continue the status-quo policies that brought the Tories utter contempt from the British people. From Gaza to privatisation to wealth taxes, they know their stances are out of touch with public opinion. But by ensuring pliable MPs rather than independent thinkers, they will clear the way for an unpopular programme and attacks on working-class interests. We must raise the alarm.
- Join over 4000 people in signing Momentum’s petition for a KC -led investigation into Labour’s Parliamentary selections here.
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