A JOURNEY.....

I got back yesterday from Heaven On Earth - which is County Mayo. I was staying near Westport and can honestly say this is the most beautiful place I have ever seen. It is also my genetic home. I loved it.

So- back to England and many thanks for the messages I am getting of support for the NEC elections.

The LRC has two candidates. Myself and Christine Shawcroft. In the absence of a Grassroots Alliance, I am voting for the candidates i think will best serve the interests of ordinary members.

These are not high-profile politicos like Ken Livingstone and Oona King who frankly are using the NEC platforms as a platform for their mayoral campaigns. They are: Christine Shawcroft, Peter Kenyon and John Wiseman.

Back the LRC two - and vote for those who really are of the grassroots and will work for us.

A MESSAGE FROM VICE-CHAIR OF THE CENTRE LEFT GRASSROOTS ALLIANCE

Before I leave for Ireland today and a well-earned rest, I feel compelled to point out, as a Vice-Chair of the CLGA, that for this year's NEC election purposes it does not exist.
This is a great shame but I felt it needed clearing up as most CLPs will be circulated in the next couple of days with a leaflet from "Grassroots Labour." This is in fact the CLPD/Compass slate and it would have been helpful if they had used that tag .
The confusion needs to be sorted out as myself and Peter Kenyon of Save The Labour Party and the CLGA are not on the list. However, the other constituents of the CLGA are the LRC, STLP, Labour Briefing, Left Women's Network and the Socialist Youth Network.
All of the above have expressed their support for me and Christine Shawcroft.
I would urge all activists who want to be well represented to vote for Peter as he has done sterling work for many years - long before he was elected to the NEC.
Having cleared that up, I have a long jouney to the West of ireland and am packing my case. A good Bank Holiday to all.......

NEC SUPPORTING STATEMENT

The LRC is backing two candidates for the NEC - myself and Christine Shawcroft.I'm going to be doing my best over the next few weeks to maximise my vote and give the left a real say in the elections. If you support my candidacy, please download the leaflet which is now on the LRC website and let's get our message out across the country.More here...

http://www.l-r-c.org.uk/files/LRC_susanpress.pdf

NEC RUNNERS AND RIDERS

NEC member Peter Kenyon has outlined why this year there is no Centre Left Grassroots Alliance slate. but there will still be a plethora of people to vote for. On the centre. And on the left. The bottom line for me I suppose is whether candidates really are of the grassroots and will put in the work.
The LRC is officially supporting two candidates - Christine Shawcroft and myself. On a personal level, I will definitely be supporting Peter who has worked his socks off for the past two years on the NEC on behalf of ordinary members. At the end of the day it is down to all of us as individuals to maximise our vote and put forward the best case we can.
I don't know what the final tally of candidates is but it is likely to be more than 12. No-one can argue they don't have a fair choice.......

NEC NOMINATIONS

My thanks to the following 27 constituencies who have nominated me. During the pre-nomination period, I was almost wholly occupied with family illness so contacted not as many CLPs as I would have hoped to. That will change in the coming period.
Alyn and Deeside
Barnsley Central
Bournemouth West
Bradford South
Brentford and Isleworth
Brigg and Goole
Bristol East
Bury St Edmunds
Calder Valley
Cambridge
Cardiff South and Penarth
Christchurch
Hayes and Harlington
Hazel Grove
Hyndburn
Leeds Central
North Ayrshire and Arran
North West Hampshire
Peterborough
Portsmouth South
St Helens South and Whiston
Tooting
Uxbridge and South Ruislip
Warrington South
Weston Super Mare
Workington
Wyre and Preston

And another......

Many thanks to Uxbridge and South Ruislip CLP

MORE NEC nominations

Many thanks to Leeds Central and Cambridge CLP. The tally is now 16 CLPs

AND ANOTHER...

Thanks to Hyndburn CLP

NEC NOMINATIONS....

thanks to Portsmouth South CLP!

ANOTHER NOMINATION....

From Bournemouth West. Thanks comrades......

ON BALLOT FOR NEC!

In the past few days I have had notification of nominations from Tooting, North Arran and Ayrshire, Bristol East , Warrington South and St Helen's South. I hope more will follow but the good news is I'm now on the ballot! Thanks to all. Update: Weston, Brentford and Isleworth and Hayes and Harlington now added to list.....

NEC CAMPAIGN- GAME ON!

I want to thank delegates at tonight's GC for nominating me to go forward to NEC ballot. I know not everyone shares my politics but I also know that the Labour Party has a renewed vision and belief in the importance of everyone having their say and in uniting against the ConDems.
I plan to work as hard as I can to get as many nominations as I can .
But my greatest joy is knowing that we're all going to work as hard as we can in Calder Valley to see the Tories off. And we will be working together......

CENTRE LEFT GRASSROOTS ALLIANCE SLATE

It would appear that a leaflet is being circulated from something and someone calling itself "Grassroots Labour" . It erroneously suggests there are only six candidates aiming to be on the CLGA slate. The perpetrators of this leaflet have clearly learned a lot from their years observing the shenanigans of New Labour because in fact as they know there are EIGHT candidates trying to get official backing from the CLGA. The list also includes myself and Peter Kenyon of Save The Labour Party who to be frank has done far more for "grassroots Labour" than most people on the NEC. In recent weeks his voice has been one of the loudest calling for a change in the rules to enable all six leadership candidates on the ballot. In this he was backed by Christine Shawcroft, who like myself is backed by the LRC, Left Women's Network, Campaign for Socialism , Socialist Youth Network and Labour Briefing. I will be asking my CLP to give its backing to Christine and Peter and urge others to do the same. In the next few days I will also be sending a statement to all CLP secretaries in the country.

NEC - MY STATEMENT

Feel free to cut and paste - I will be circulating as many CLP Secretaries as I can in the weeks ahead .Thanks to all who have offered help within the LRC and beyond.....

Labour has a once-in-a-generation chance to change.

Since the General Election, 13,000 people have joined us. The bad news is that Party democracy is still being stifled and many members’ voices remain unheard on everything from leadership elections to Parliamentary selections and Labour Party Conferences where policy decisions are ignored.

I’m standing because I want to be one of the six CLP representatives who can fight the corner of the grassroots. I want to see our Party return to democratic socialist values – the kind of values which made me join the Labour Party in 1976.

In the past seven years I have worked with a variety of other organisations including Save The Labour Party, the Campaign For Labour Party Democracy and the Labour Representation Committee of which I’m currently co Vice-Chair.

I live in West Yorkshire where I am a Labour councillor and a member of Calder Valley CLP. At the last election, I was shortlisted for the Keighley constituency and came second out of 10 PPC candidates in an AWS selection.

I am also a trade union activist in the NUJ I believe we must all work together across the Party to renew membership, improve Party democracy and fight for democratic socialist policies on everything from peace to privatisation.

If Labour can be Labour once again, we will bring back the millions who deserted us in 2010 and expose the “new politics” of the ConDem coalition for what they are – the same old Tories and the same old politics of punishing the poor for the mistakes of the rich.

Susan Press Calder Valley CLP Membership number L0017551 SsPre2'aol.com

WHY I'M STANDiNG FOR THE NEC

The next 10 days are going to be absolutely crucial for the future of the Labour Party. We now have a once-in-a-generation chance to make it clear we are a broad church with room for views across the spectrum and a diverse discussion as to where we want our Party to go with a new Leader
Talking to friends in the Party , many of whom don't share my political views. they agree the need has never been greater for a leadership contest in which everyone has a say.
The sad fact is we're looking at a situation in which everyone apart from David and Ed Miliband is struggling to get the 33 nominations from MPs required to stand. Why should MPs have the veto on a contest in which most of us would like ALL the declared candidates to have a chance. We pay £39 a year in subs yet it looks as though the PLP is dismissing what is a clear grassroots wish to waive the ridiculous threshold figure and allow a really interesting debate which would bring thousands back to Labour and restore our reputation as a Party which welcomes diverse views. Don't let them do it!
I'm standing with Christine Shawcroft as the LRC's candidate and one of 8 CLGA candidates seeking nominations. Christine has a fine track-record as an incumbent who has stood up for activists for many years.
I also want to put in a word for Save The Labour Party's Peter Kenyon, who and has done sterling work on our behalf both on the NEC and in the ast seven years fighting for Party democracy.
I've been a Labour Party member since the 1970's. I am a local Labour councillor, trade unionist and socialist activist. I need as many nominations as I can muster from CLPs to boost our case for a renewed, socialist Labour Party. A formal statement will follow but for now please do all you can to support myself and fellow LRC supporter Christine Shawcroft.
It is time the grassrotos had a serious voice in fighting the undemocratic stage-managed procedures and Parliamentary selections which have marred our Party in the recent period, And allowed the NEC to make wrong-headed decisions which have disillusioned many. We want our Party back! My membership number for CLP nominations is L0017551

LAST BLOG FOR NOW....

The fact that I have had no time to report back from Saturday's LRC Conference says it all, really. In my defence I'm now juggling a part-time job with politics, one which requires 6am starts so am utterly exhausted and have spent the last three weekends in London with a union AGM this weekend in Southport. Blogging time is almost non-existent.
So because I don't think blogs work if they are half-heartedly done I'm packing it in for a while. At some point in the future things may change but for now I'm blogged out.
Thanks to all who voted for me on Saturday. I was really pleased to get the top vote for LRC Vice-Chair and delighted to win the NEC slate nomination with Christine Shawcroft. Commiserations to Gary Heather and John Wiseman.
The hustings was pretty tough but at least the LRC can say their candidates really have been democratically chosen. Our bottom line is clear and unequivocal. Two candidates , two places on the CLGA slate.

WHY I'M STANDING FOR THE NEC

At the LRC Conference on November 14, there will be hustings for the NEC nominees. And, with so much misinformation already flying around the blogosphere, I thought it best to set the record straight.
There are four nominees and two places. They are NOT gender specific. So any combination of candidates could make it to go forward to the CLGA slate. ie two men, two women, one woman, one man. I am not on any slate .I am standing on my own merits with Christine Shawcroft, Gary Heather and John Wiseman. May the best person win.
But it is NOT about individuals. It is about why it is crucially important the left strengthens its position on the NEC. So, whoever wins is not on some personal bandwagon but there to represent LRC policy AND to stand firm on our agreed position of two places on the CLGA slate. That's the bottom line. And all of us must be prepared to stick to it.
I am standing because I don't think the CLGA has worked collectively . I think ordinary Labour Party members have been let down. And I think it's time we had CLP representatives who stand up for them.

NEC RESULTS

Unconfirmed reports on LabourHome suggest that four out of the five Grassroots Allliance candidates have made it on to the NEC. So well done to Ann Black, Peter Kenyon, Pete Willsman and Christine Shawcroft. The bad news is that it therefore looks as if Mohammed Azam didn't make it. Which is a serious shame.
Walter Wolfgang, who never pulled his punches in challenging the leadership, will also be sadly missed. I hope next time round the six-strong slate is more evenly divided between the centre and the left. AND democratically chosen.It would also help if there were no administrative hiccups ( which is why Fran Griffiths from Welsh Labiour Grassroots didn't make the final six)

THE CENTRE-RIGHT GRASSROOTS ALLIANCE

I am , in a word, horrified that the Campaign For Labour Party Democracy -lynchpin of the Centre Left Grassroots Alliance - has thrown its weight behind Ellie Reeves.

For years, I have been going to Labour Party Conference and hearing people like Pete Willsman and Christine Shawcroft banging on about how bad the Blairites are and how they are "puppets" of the leadership. Well, bugger me because now they are asking us on the left to SUPPORT one of the biggest New Labour clones in the business.

Trade union lawyer Ellie Reeves is straight out of central casting. Articulate, middle-class, attractive, and obviously on her way to a safe Parliamentary seat. Actually, she doesn't need the help of the CLPD or anyone else to get onto the NEC.

So why are these alleged lefties giving her the time of day - and making themselves look bloody ridiculous in the process? Last year at Labour Party Conference the CLGA fought in vain to save contemporary resolutions. Who was one of the biggest cheerleaders in Bournemouth for their abolition? Step forward, er, Ellie Reeves. Ellie also told us 12 months ago that Gordon would be a "fantastic" Prime Minister and Leader. Clearly also a woman of great political acumen. Frankly, CLPD should be ashamed of itself. In backing Reeves, it has also become a "puppet" of the New Labour leadership. But she won't be getting my vote, nor that I wager of many others in the LRC.

GRASSROOTS ALLIANCE NEEDS DEMOCRATISING

Inevitably, Luke Akehurst has latched onto the discussion we have been having over the Grassroots Alliance slate with some speculation about why John Wiseman, a member of the LRC, has decided to go it alone .The answer is very simple.
There is not any "disarray" or fall-out on the left. John decided to stand unilaterally because he thought a socialist should have a voice - and a say - in the debate.
The inner workings of the CLGA may be common currency to someone like me ( who for many years has been campaigning, attending conference and mixing with the ilk of Pete Willsman and Christine Shawcroft ) but if you live outside London and concentrate on trade union work then it's pretty much foreign territory.
The LRC has certainly supported the CLGA in the past but as far as I am aware still is NOT signed up, sealed and delivered to a commitment to back the entire 2008 slate.
No doubt that will be clarified at our next National Committee meeting. If that is so, then John may have to consider his position. But, as of now, I really don't see why a socialist with a credible left position should be discouraged from standing. The reason this problem has occurred is down to the lack of democracy within the Alliance. John has as much of a mandate to stand as anyone else. And he should not be demonised.....