Newham Vs Tower Hamlets? Choose…

A spirited campaign to save democracy and true representation by ordinary grassroots Labour Party members with support from Newham Momentum has sprung a new life in lacklustre politics of Newham.

Labour Party’s internal process, commonly known among the party faithful as a ‘Trigger Ballot’, that saw Robin Wales – who has been the local party boss and Mayor for what seems an eternity to many – was endorsed last year when he sought ‘a fifth term’ as Labour Mayor of Newham. Sir Robin Wales is considered by many as a Blairite.

But the result and the process were constantly challenged based on evidence and is going to be now re-run following a brave campaign by local party members who claim that a number of serious irregularities had made “a material difference to the result”, as reported in the Guardian.

Coincidentally, in Tower Hamlets, similar concerns were expressed by quite a few members, Tower Hamlets Momentum members/supporters during and immediately after the local trigger ballot which saw John Biggs being annointed as the party’s mayoral candidate despite the fact that he lost the popular vote among the ordinary rank and file members but like Newham Biggs was saved by affiliates – mainly the Trade Unions – such as CWU and Tower Hamlets Unison in an apparent deal by Biggs and his mates with dwindling power base in the party.

Biggs, another Blairite, was supported by Tories in 2015 mayoral election who voted for him in a secret deal with local Tory leader Cllr Peter Golds which was eventually revealed. Biggs also carried out deals with local kippers and others, cashing on the smear campaign against his rivals who were more left-wing and rose through Tower Hamlets Labour ranks including holding its local leadership positions. But in a stark contrast to the spirited campaign for a transparent and democratic mandate in Newham, a few key middle-ranking power brokers within Tower Hamlets Momentum and vociferous characters were co-opted by Biggs with party’s local election nominations for May 2018 (some in unwinnable seats) with other minor adjustments to avoid a Newham-like situation in Tower Hamlets. Most ordinary Tower Hamlets Momentum members did not, still do not, even know what took place leading up to such personal deals but have been cajoled under the cloak of tribal party loyalty even though 7 current Labour Councillors working for Biggs, including key Cabinet position holders, publicly campaigned against Corbyn yet somehow Biggs and his co-optees have managed to mislead or quieten their own ordinary party members with carrot & stick approach behind closed doors.

In Sir Robin’s case, the Regional Director of the London Region Labour Party, Mr Fleming, stated that the trigger ballot re-run had been “agreed” because the prospect of a court case to determine the dispute “would be costly to the party” and “a massive distraction” from the London-wide mayoral and council election campaigns to take place in May 2018. In about three months and a few days’ time, Labour is forecasted and indeed expected to romp to a spectacular overall victory in London taking many seats from the Tories including in the historically Conservative heartlands like Barnet and Kensington & Chelsea. Locally, they are also expected make a huge dent in Tory support base in Tower Hamlets, save for any deals to protect the Tower Hamlets Tory Leader Cllr Peter Golds who unofficially advises Biggs and can be seen lurking around him.

But such concerns about distraction are totally irrelevant in places like Newham and Tower Hamlets because Labour rules the roost in their almost its fiefdom like control here. Newham is facetiously known as North Korea of the East End due to complete one-party state situation, whereas Tower Hamlets has always been one of the safest Labour seats, except for still popular Rahman-mania in local elections, despite what you may read or hear in the mainstream press or in some media outlets courtesy of Tory and Blairite mouthpieces who work hand in glove with each other.

In Newham’s context, essentially, this internal trigger ballot re-run will decide who will be the new Mayor of Newham. There seems to be a real momentum and buzz in Newham Labour politics – something not seen in Tower Hamlets since 2015 which was narrowly won by Biggs but since then he has shrewdly ensured that once a united opposition against him is now divided by propping up divisions and ambition, using both his Tory and Labour contacts, which he is certain will see him through. An inside source revealed that Biggs devised this plan all the way back in late 2015 to divide the opposition when he was busy hiding £2m alleged bribery offer to get an apparent planning consent by a Biggs-supporting businessman who campaigned for him in 2015.

Biggs has learnt the wheeling and dealing combined with the classic divide and rule politics but who knows there may be a surprise in store as Tower Hamlets has very intelligent and politically savvy voters who usually see through tribal party politics and deals for personal benefits that do not benefit the community’s interest at large.

In Newham, Wales tried and failed because the internal opposition led by Momentum is more politically clued up, has a strong dossier of evidence, is principled and does not make individual deals for the personal benefit which in turn has resulted in more respect and stronger voice as Wales have failed to divide and thereby rule them.

Whereas in Tower Hamlets, Biggs, who is nodding off in meetings when he is not busy making strange comments, has lost the right to govern due to his abject failures, lack of a mandate from his own ordinary party members, allegations of cronyism, bullying and a terrible record in office yet can force his way through. Something which sooner or later, local party members must grapple with.

As for Newham fresh trigger ballot, date for the start of the fresh process will soon be announced and the similar “freeze date” of 25 October 2016 will apply, which means that members will once again have had to been members for at least six months prior to that date to be eligible to take part.

The key however is what will be the status, process, eligibility and most importantly the voting entitlements of affiliated organisations, mainly trade unions, which was a focus of some of the main complaints about the process both in Tower Hamlets and Newham.  There is no doubt that the process will be administered by the London Region Labour, which means it is removed from Newham Labour’s Local Campaign Forum (LCF) who will not have a say now. This is significant because the complaints revolved around their bias or lack of fair, consistent and proper application in the process. Yet the London Region is contradicting itself when it says, “that all rules and procedures were applied correctly and that officers of the LCF acted in good faith with the information they were provided with”. This claim does not seem to stack up but might have been a necessary compromise.

In January 2017, a letter sent to Labour Party’s top executive body, by 47 party members in Newham, including 10 councillors, stated that there were grounds for questioning the validity of seven of the votes cast in favour of Sir Robin going forward automatically as Labour’s mayoral candidate in 2018 rather than facing possible challengers in an open selection contest. In Tower Hamlets, despite a lot of bluster and rhetoric, no such official complaint letter and/or evidence were lodged and the Momentum supporting website was suddenly taken off the internet quietly, presumably in lieu of the deal for councillors’ nominations for the ‘troublemakers’ by Biggs. But what about ordinary members who were asked to campaign hard to remove Biggs because he was not up to the job and was clearly against Corbyn values and leadership. They find it strange that the same characters are now campaigning for Biggs because they have now secured party nominations for themselves but were only too happy berating Biggs in Momentum meetings only some months ago? Many wonder where are the principles and ethos sticking to your principles against the odds as Corbyn did so many years in the Parliament?

For Newham, The TSSA union vote is particularly problematic which was cast for Sir Robin but without following a proper procedure. The Fabian Society investigation found that its Newham chapter also broke its rules in automatically backing Sir Robin. There are also concerns about Bectu, one of the minor unions with a local affiliated branch at the time of the ballot which supported Sir Robin yet did not have the mandate to do so after its amalgamation. Other unions which have local affiliation status might cast more votes in the re-run than in the original ballot due to differing understandings of the rights of separate affiliated branches at that time. This is where the battle will be won or lost for Sir Robin. And this is where it was won for Biggs.

If Robin Wales fail to win the re-run of trigger ballot he would face challengers in an open selection battle and Councillor Rokhsana Fiaz, is being thought as a likely challenger amongst others but it will all depend on the alliance who have brought the campaign this far, from the jaws of defeat to a glimmer of hope.

For once it is a time of qualified jubilation for the cause of true and transparent democratic representation – an initial battle has been won by brave ordinary members in Newham by sticking to their principles with dignity. Might it be a time for sombre reflection for non-tribal Tower Hamlets Labour Party members and local Momentum comrades to learn some lessons for a future trigger ballot in two years’ time if Biggs won. More on that later.