Nigel,According to this the Ealing Southall Constituency Labour Party (CLP) has been in special measures since before 2005. http://labourlist.org/2013/07/the-kafkaesque-farce-of-the-labour-party-special-measures-revisited/I understand it means that they carefully vet members at the centre. It didn't stop Ealing Southall CLP being the largest CLP in the country in membership terms at the time of Ed Miliband's election. See results here:http://www2.labour.org.uk/leadership-clpsApparently Ealing Southall has 1,206 members, or had in 2010 which was also a local election year (there is a clue there!). The turnout figures are interesting. At 42% Ealing Southall was the fifth worst in the country. Maybe some of the Southall members don’t actually know they are Labour members! Certainly they weren't interested in the election of the Labour party leader. What are they interested in? The explanation I have been given is that Labour councillors actively recruit members to vote for them at selection meetings and pay their subs. It costs very little to join the party, especially if you are unemployed. There is a local join rate of £15 per annum. In Ealing a basic allowance for a councillor is £9,612. For three councillors over four years that adds up to £115K. You can see how it is tempting to recruit a few members to secure that prize. The trick in Southall is to be selected. The elections are a given!
Phil Taylor ● 4633d