Protest planned at Wolverhampton West hustings amid row over selection process

A protest is being planned outside a meeting to select Labour’s candidate for the new seat of Wolverhampton West amid a row over how the party has handled the selection process.

An apparent leaflet, seen by LabourList, alleges that the selection process “breaches democratic principles and normal Labour Party process” and encourages recipients to join a protest outside of the hustings meeting on Tuesday evening and to write to the party’s ruling national executive committee (NEC) to complain.

The document – which says it was produced by ‘Wolves Labour for Party Democracy’ – follows a statement from the Wolverhampton South West Constituency Labour Party (CLP) executive last week, which expressed concern about the selection process timetable and the shortlist of candidates.

Under proposed boundary changes, the Wolverhampton West constituency will largely be made up of wards in the Wolverhampton South West constituency but will also incorporate parts of the current Wolverhampton South East and Wolverhampton North East seats. The selection is preceding on the new boundaries.

The statement from the CLP executive claimed that the current process “effectively excludes the CLP membership from any meaningful role”, with its authors calling on the NEC to withdraw the shortlist and re-open applications.

An earlier statement by CLP secretary Di Weaver – which the CLP executive said it “fully” supported – claimed that the NEC had in the last week “imposed an unnecessary fast-track selection process”, made the local selection committee “redundant” and “removed” the opportunity for branch and affiliate nominations.

The CLP executive claimed in their statement that local members had been given just seven days’ notice ahead of the hustings meeting, which it said gave “no time to send letters to those who don’t receive emails and only three days notice to register for an online vote”.

The statement also said there was a 16-month party membership requirement to be eligible to vote in the selection, which it claimed was “unprecedented”. An apparent email shared with members ahead of hustings – seen by LabourList – stated that members must have joined the party on or before April 10th 2022 to take part.

One party source said the length of the membership requirement could relate to the selection process having been delayed and then restarted, as the freeze date is designed to stop deliberate recruitment to influence a selection.

The selection process in the seat was first launched in October last year but was delayed, initially due to a shortage of woman applicants according to Weaver’s statement to members.

The process reopened for applications in June. The CLP executive’s statement claimed that candidates who had previously applied were not informed that the process had reopened or that they were required to reapply.

The statement also claimed that “some candidates have been blocked from standing despite having more than the requisite trade union and socialist society endorsements” and alleged that others “who publicly declared their intention to apply have coincidentally been place under administrative suspension”.

The selection process was strongly criticised earlier this month after it was revealed that sitting NEC member Mish Rahman had not made the longlist despite having seven unions’ and affiliates’ support. He noted his role on the NEC meant he is “allowed to longlist candidates but not to be longlisted myself”.

Rahman, who also serves as vice-chair of Momentum, said the decision related to his refusal to back party rule changes relating to the Equality and Human Rights Commission report on antisemitism in the party and argued that being blocked for “casting a vote” should be a “serious concern” for everyone in Labour.

The apparent leaflet announcing the protest claimed that “all over the country” candidates from the left and centre of the party are being “undemocratically blocked”, citing Jamie Driscoll’s candidacy for North East mayor and Emma Dent Coad in Kensington.

It claimed that the alleged issues identified in the Wolverhampton West selection process all “benefits one candidate” and “removes any real choice”.

The CLP executive claimed in their statement that two of the shortlisted candidates “have little connection to Wolverhampton”. The statement also alleged that the two candidates have had difficulty accessing membership lists, leading to concerns that they are “either paper candidates… or have not been treated fairly”.

Speaking to LabourList, CLP secretary Weaver argued that it is “baffling” that the selection is now being “rushed through by the NEC to the exclusion of any meaningful involvement by members or CLP officers” given the delay in the process.

She added: “To our knowledge, there were at least three strong women councillors who were interested in standing. It is therefore astounding that the NEC have handed us a shortlist of three, only one of whom is a woman and two of whom are far from local.

“Even if justification could be given for the woefully limited choice of candidates, it is inexplicable as to why members could not be given the time and opportunity to get to know each candidate.”

Three candidates have been included on the shortlist for the seat, according to the apparent email shared with members ahead of hustings: Saqhib Ali, Warinder Singh Juss and Charan Sharma.

Commenting on selections earlier this year, a Labour Party spokesperson said that “thanks to Keir Starmer’s leadership, Labour is now a serious, credible government-in-waiting and our candidates reflect that”.

They added: “Robust due diligence processes have been put in place to make sure everyone selected is of the highest calibre and for that we’ll make no apologies… The public rightly expect anyone asking to hold office is of the highest standard, and with Labour they can.”

The Labour Party was approached for comment.