It looks like Barking and Dagenham Labour Party have wielded the axe over a number of sitting councillors in advance of next year's London local elections. Tribune has also touched on this recently.
I'm not close to the local party there, but the time of selections does pose questions for all party members about the type of representatives we seek to offer voters. I'd suggest that the Labour Party needs its representatives to look like the people they represent, should be both ethnically and gender balanced and should offer the voters the chance to elect people who will use their positions of responsiblity to work hard and stand up for them. It is always disappointing whenever some feel that the party no longer represents them. As Labour heads towards a general election, I hope all members can feel enthused to fight the threat of a Tory government and not their own comrades.
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And this today in Waltham Forest too:
http://www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/wfnews/4491624.WALTHAM_FOREST__Deselected_councillor_ditches_Labour_for_Lib_Dems/
I don't know anything about the internal politics of the Barking and Dagenham Labour Party, but I do not care at all whether the people who represent me look like me, or are from a similar ethnic or gender group to myself.
At the last general election I voted for a black woman in Stoke Newington because her views corresponded most to my own out of the candidates put before me. I then moved to Bethnal Green where I would have much preferred to be represented by a black Jewish woman than the man with an Irish Catholic background, again, because of their respective values. At the next election I am likely to be living in Tooting where I'm pretty sure I will vote for a guy from an Asian and Muslim background even if he is up against a pasty faced ginge.
Anyway, I'm sure you get the point.
I agree that we shouldn't vote for people based on their gender or ethnicity. I do think that the range of elected representatives across a council or parliament should in some way resemble their electorate.
Like in Northern Ireland.
The problem goes back to 2006 when Hodge made her infamous 'Whiskas' comment; that 8 out of 10 of her electors were thinking about voting BNP.Local people read this and promptly did vote BNP, in such large numbers that they won 12 seats.They only contested 13 seats !.They would have won the Council with a full slate.
Understandably members were furious at Hodge but, instead of being apologetic she set out to purge her opponents in the CLP and indoing so take control of the Council Labour Group.Such is this womans megalomania that she is tearing the Party apart.
The Labour Group currently has several ethnic minority members and alot of women so its nothing to do with that.
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