Labour left sweeps the London regional board

The Labour left slate won almost all the London regional board positions up for election, it was revealed at Labour London conference this weekend.

Unite activist Jim Kelly and Tottenham’s Seema Chandwani were elected as chair and vice-chair respectively, while other left-wing activists including Claudia Webbe and Apsana Begum became local party representatives.

The slate of candidates backed by Momentum won all positions except one in ‘Section 7’ (the London Assembly constituencies of Barnet & Camden and Brent & Harrow), which went to Jewish Labour Movement activist Izzy Lenga, and that of disabilities officer, taken by Unite-backed Sean McGovern over Momentum-endorsed Robert Lugg.

Labour’s regional boards are key to ensuring that internal procedures – appeals on selections and disciplinary cases – are conducted fairly. In London, the elected officials also play an important role in shortlisting Great London Assembly (GLA) candidates.

Corbynsceptics will now be concerned that London mayor Sadiq Khan could face a hostile Labour group in 2020, and that decisions on issues such as rerunning local party AGMs and membership application appeals will not go in their favour.

There was some controversy over the socialist society place, as the Fabian Society, which has the largest vote in the section, took the seat off the Jewish Labour Movement. It was won by Fabian staffer Alex Sanderson rather than JLM’s Peter Mason, who tweeted that they had “asked @thefabians for solidarity, sadly they chose not to give it”.

There were few contentious motions. One on climate change, moved by Hackney North CLP, endorsed “halting airport expansion” (which particularly applies to Heathrow). It only narrowly passed: Unite and GMB voted against, while Unison voted in favour along with smaller unions.

The emergency motion to “Stop Tory Brexit damaging London’s communities” was approved with almost 80% votes in favour. It urged MPs to extend Article 50 and vote for a ratification referendum including a ‘Remain’ option.

Below is the full list of London Labour regional board election results.

Chair: Jim Kelly
Vice-chair: Seema Chandwani
BAME officer: Taranjit Chana
LGBT officer: Lucio Buffone
Disabilities officer: Sean McGovern
Women’s officer: Alison McGarry
National policy forum: Adrian Weir, Elly Baker

CLP reps:

Section 1 – London Assembly constituencies of South-West (Hounslow, Kingston, Richmond) and Ealing & Hillingdon: Rheian Davies and Ranjeev Walia
Section 2 – London Assembly constituencies of West Central (Hammersmith & Fulham, Kensington & Chelsea, Westminster) and Merton & Wandsworth: Francis Prideaux and Fay Dowker
Section 3 – London Assembly constituencies of Lambeth & Southwark and Croydon & Sutton: Sam Green and James McAsh
Section 4 – London Assembly constituencies of Greenwich & Lewisham and Bexley & Bromley: Munir Malik and Dorinda Duncan
Section 5 – London Assembly constituencies of City & East (City, Newham, Tower Hamlets, Barking & Dagenham) and Havering & Redbridge: Bob Littlewood and Apsana Begum
Section 6 – London Assembly constituencies of North-East (Hackney, Islington, Waltham Forest and Enfield and Haringey: Emina Ibrahim and Claudia Webbe
Section 7 – London Assembly constituencies of Barnet & Camden and Brent & Harrow: Jumbo Chan and Izzy Lenga

CAC (conference arrangements committee): Hasib Baber, Theresa Byrne, Kathryn Johnson

Socialist societies: Alex Sanderson

Co-operative Party: Ria Bernard, Joe Simpson

Trade unions: Chris Clarke, Sonya Davis, Paul Embery, Maggi Ferncombe, Danny Freeman, Dean Gilligan, Michelle Gordon, Yvonne Green, Mary Hanson, Andy Hearn, James Mitchell, Niamh O’Brady, Anu Prasher, Alan Tate