Friday 18 July 2014

Dawnites strengthen position in Brent Central CLP

Michael Calderbank
Supporters of Dawn Butler, made an almost clean sweep in elections to Brent Central Constituency Labour Party  General Committee last night.

Michael Calderbank, who was banned by Brent officers from the local election count in May, becomes Secretary. Terry Hoad was elected Chair but Cllr Janice Long survived as Vice Chair and Membership Secretary. Ivor Etienne was elected Vice Chair, Campaigns.

Cllr Ketan Sheth, former chair of Brent Planning Committee had already resigned. Karin Barrett, a powerful figure in Brent Central did not stand again  and Graham Barrett was ruled out for Treasurer by the GC gender balance rule.

Cllr Tom Miller defeated Graham Durham for the Trade Union Liaison post. Araz Moiz is the new Treasurer.

I understand that former councillor James Powney, who has been very concerned about leaks from the Labour Party to Wembley Matters, was rather perplexed by the rules, but all was sorted out eventually.

Former councillor Jim Moher, who recently had a  run in with the news editor of the Kilburn Times, will be Dawn Butler's election agent for the 2015 General Election.


7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ah, Master Miller...? He of the 'democracy whenever practicable' Twitter ID, perhaps. If so, here's his latest Twitter bio:

'Labour Cllr @WillesdenLabour, democratic left. Likes: #SAFC, @RENEWALjournal, obscure punk bands. Owls for all'.

As for Ms Butler - wasn't there something about two houses in the past and housing-expenses' claims? And former cllr Moher is now her agent?

Anonymous said...

And folk wonder why only a minority of the electorate bother to vote! Wheels within wheels, factions within factions. This kind of politics has nothing to do with democracy at all. Which reminds me, wasn't Tom Miller the bloke who had 'democracy whenever practicable' as part of his Twitter profile - until he removed it after it was roundly (and rightly in my view) sneered at on WM, which he claimed he didn't read. And he's part of a team backing someone who once had some problems with her MP's expenses, I recall...

Meg Howarth said...

I had a 'run-in' with then-Cllr Moher last year in the pages of the Kilburn Times when he sneered at my letter regarding the loss of Kensal Rise Library as coming from someone who lived in 'leafy Islington'. The folIowing week I was able to set the former councillor right about his eastern-borough neighbour, and was naturally delighted when a Brent resident picked up on the matter in the next edition of the paper - the correspondence can be read in the letters pages of the BKT archive for the following dates: 11, 18, 25 July and 1 August 2013.

Sadly, there seem to be fewer BKT letters' pages than previously. Let's hope this changes soon. It's up to citizens to hold elected politicians to account.

Meg Howarth said...

Off-topic but as Dawn Butler was present at the Cricklewood anti-fascist demo today I wonder if she'd like to comment on the following remark made by Kensal Rise councillor, Dan Filson, to Martin Francis while he was taking a photograph of the event: "Martin, ever the observer & not a participant"!

No wonder folk are increasingly rejecting professional politicians and their (nasty) self-serving party machines, as per Anonymous 00.15 above.

Meg Howarth said...

Kensal Green councillor, sorry. More haste...

Anonymous said...

Same old politics. These pitiful party shenanigans could be the Preface to The Extinction of the Dinosaurs. Time for change.

Graham Barrett said...

Typo - the new Brent Central Treasurer is Azra Moiz, not Araz.