This is a guest post by the Late Lord Shore
Once again a Labour Party selection process in Tower Hamlets has ground to a judicious halt.
Some will remember that in 1996 the battle to succeed Peter Shore (eventually won by Oona King) was less than straightforward. In 2002 selections in various wards were – through the interventions of m’learned friends – held up (and eventually imposed) in a number of wards. In others wards they had to be re-run due to, ahem, “membership irregularities”
The East London Advertiser now informs us that the selection battle to become Labour directly elected Mayor of Tower Hamlets is to be rerun.
Whilst I don’t know what was in the complaint, the rumour-mill is that it was brought by former Council Leader, Lutfur Rahman and relies on employment law to argue for a reconsideration (Rahman having just missed the final shortlist).
As a result, all of the previously interviewed candidates are being invited to a fresh interview this Saturday.
So HP readers, what question would you like the panel to ask the candidates?
Here’s one to start with: “Are you a member of any organisation that has political aims that are at odds with Clause IV of the Labour Party?”:
The Labour Party is a democratic socialist party. It believes that by the strength of our common endeavour we achieve more than we achieve alone, so as to create for each of us the means to realise our true potential and for all of us a community in which power, wealth and opportunity are in the hands of the many, not the few, where the rights we enjoy reflect the duties we owe, and where we live together, freely, in a spirit of solidarity, tolerance and respect.
