Tuesday 9 May 2017

Greens to stand in marginal Hampstead & Kilburn unless reciprocal agreement reached with Labour

Tulip Siddiq, Dee Searle (Chair) and John Mansook at last night's meeting

Following a meeting of Brent and Camden Green parties in Kilburn on Monday 8th May, Green Party members in Hampstead & Kilburn have voted that the prospective parliamentary candidate John Mansook will stand in the constituency in the upcoming General Election, rather than stand down and pursue a local electoral alliance. 

Brent and Camden Green parties would like to thank Labour’s incumbent Tulip Siddiq for coming to speak at the meeting, which was conducted respectfully at all times. In particular, they would like to commend her efforts to persuade Labour’s National Executive Committee to stand aside for the Greens in Brighton Pavilion and the Isle of Wight, and her voting record on key Green issues including resistance to fracking, renewal of Trident and HS2.

However, Labour’s lack of willingness to enter into electoral alliances with the Green Party in constituencies where the Greens have a better chance of winning – particularly Brighton Pavilion and the Isle of Wight – was a key factor in the vote. This followed new advice not to stand aside from the Green Party leadership unless Labour was prepared to withdraw in these constituencies. Members did add a condition that keeps an option open for standing aside in Hampstead & Kilburn if there is movement from Labour on electoral alliances nationally before a deadline of 12pm, Wednesday 10 May.

Hampstead & Kilburn Green Party candidate John Mansook said:
Any electoral alliance needs to be a true alliance, not a one way street. Sadly there hasn’t been any movement towards this from the Labour Party nationally. While we are very grateful to Tulip for coming to speak to us and advocating electoral alliances publicly in recent days, any decision to stand aside would have been very difficult knowing Labour are not likely to reciprocate. One of the Green Party’s key platforms in the upcoming campaign will be to change our unfair voting system, so that discussions like this are unnecessary and people can vote for what they believe in.
Camden Green Party co-Chair John Holmes said:
Brent and Camden Green Parties have selected an excellent local candidate in John Mansook, who is deeply connected with many of the issues facing residents of Hampstead and Kilburn. Voters deserve the option of being able to vote for him and for the Green Party’s unique policies, including a commitment to reverse privatisation in the NHS and measures that will dramatically cut Britain’s contribution to climate change. We can only deprive voters of that opportunity if Labour works with us to increase our Green voice in Parliament.
This is the resolution passed last night:

The members of the Brent and Camden Green parties living in the Hampstead and Kilburn constituency resolve:
1) To publicly thank Tulip Siddiq for meeting the parties, for the efforts she has made to secure a progressive alliance for the 2017 General Election and the undertakings she has made to work for a progressive alliance in future
2) With regret, unless the Labour Party agrees to the reasonable demands of the Green Party nationally to withdraw the Labour candidates in Brighton and the Isle of Wight by noon on Wednesday 10th May, we will submit our nomination for John Mansook to be our candidate.
3) If an agreement is reached nationally, the election agent is instructed not to submit our candidate’s nomination.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Make Votes Matter recently asked me as a MVM supporter, to "help shape Labour's manifesto." As a Green Party member I felt I could not do so because I am not a Labour Party supporter and did not want to blur party boundaries so much that I would lose my Green Party identity and the Green Party's 'unique selling points'.

Besides, Green Party policy is founded on conference procedures that give it more integrity than a manifesto that could be regarded as 'an entryist's charter'. And besides, Blairites still have considerable hold on the Labour Party via the purse strings.

In this General Election, however, were I a Hampstead & Kilburn constituent as well as a Green Party member, I would have been tempted to vote for Tulip even with a Green Party candidate standing.

But then again, unlike the H&K constituency Greens involved, I have not been involved in the original candidate selection process.

In my own constituency of Hampstead & Kilburn, Siân Berry as a local councillor and London Assembly Member will have more credibility to the wider public than Natalie Bennett had as Green Party Leader without a council seat.

As a socio-economically vulnerable person and member of Kilburn Unemployed Workers Group, I consider it a real tragedy though that the Labour National Executive Committee is so tribal that it cannot support the prospect of Proportional Representation.

What are they really afraid of?

Alan Wheatley

Martin Francis said...

Thanks Alan. I think you mean Holborn and St Pancras in the para mentioning Sian Berry.

Anonymous said...

Yes, Martin, you are correct about my own constituency being Holborn & St Pancras at present.

The way things are with my prospectus of being no longer a London resident by 8 June and requiring a postal vote, it's difficult for me to know where I am a lot of the time these days!

;-)

Alan