Ealing Labour Group started off the process of selecting council candidates over a year ago. Ultimately, the final selection is made by the local party membership in each ward, which has increased substantially over the past couple of years and include a significant number who support Jeremy Corbyn and the recent Labour Party manifesto. These members also sense that many of our local Labour Councillors are not so supportive of these policies nor of the present leadership, and there is an understandable determination among many members to change the political flavour of our Labour Council to more closely align with the policies of the Party nationally. So while the selection process in Ealing hasn't been as dramatic as in Haringey, there has been a fairly drawn out contest between the more traditional sitting councillors and new applicants with more left wing views. However, while the wider local membership might have the final say, the initial candidate selection and approval was done by various remote sub-committees of more established party members, which some members feel has limited the candidates being put before them to those with more traditional views. In addition, the Ealing Labour Group chose to start the official process off such a long time ago that, under the present rules, only members who joined before April 2016 can actually vote at the final selection meetings. This, of course, excludes many new and enthusiastic members and could again produce an unrepresentative result. So, depending on one's political viewpoint, the whole thing has been an entirely proper democratic process or a total stitch up!
Peter Evans ● 2700d