forestgatedotnet

By Josephine Grahl

In May 2018 a record number of woman councillors were elected in Newham – 28 in total – as well as a woman Mayor, Rokhsana Fiaz, who then went on to appoint a majority female Cabinet and a woman Deputy Mayor, Charlene Maclean.

This was achieved thanks to a Labour party selection process which determined that, where a council ward was already represented by two female councillors, or where a male candidate was stepping down and creating a vacancy, Labour party branches would be asked to select at least two women for the three available seats.

Essentially this meant that eight of the twenty council wards would have all-women shortlists (AWS) for two of the three available seats, with the remainder having to select at least one woman.

The exception was Royal Docks, where the three incumbent men were reselected; if a vacant seat becomes available in that ward, one would hope it would be filled through AWS.

Boleyn was a ‘two-women ward’, where the suspension of Cllr Obaid Khan from the Labour party created a vacancy and the local Labour party selected sitting councillors Veronica Oakeshott and Harvinder Singh Virdee and new candidate Genevieve Kitchen to contest the ward.

It was a surprise, therefore, when Labour party members in Newham were informed that the candidate selection for the Boleyn ward by-election – where Cllr Veronica Oakeshott is stepping down – would be open to both male and female candidates. Historically, open selections in Newham have almost always led to the selection of male candidates, so it looks all too likely that this will be a backward step for gender balance in Newham Council.

When asked why the selection was not an AWS, the London Regional Labour party cited the party rulebook, namely Appendix 4. B. i. b: “In winnable wards with two or three members at least one candidate must be a woman.” But there’s nothing in the letter of that rule which suggests that an all women shortlist can’t be used in Boleyn – and the spirit of that rule is the encouragement of wider participation by women in standing for elected office, here being undermined.

Newham Council has had a solid Labour majority for decades, often with sixty Labour councillors out of sixty, and with only minor and short-lived incursions by other parties. This makes the Labour party’s selection process for council candidates key to the make-up of the Council. It’s disappointing, therefore, that the party has opted not to require that an outgoing woman councillor be replaced by another woman – and will be even more disappointing if the Boleyn by-election leads to a reduction in the number of women holding local office.

Josephine Grahl is writing in her personal capacity, not as chair of West Ham CLP.

Another day, another paranoid conspiracy theory.

Labour’s London regional office has been running standard membership eligibility checks in East Ham and some members have received letters asking them to verify that they are on local electoral roll.

This is, of course, a huge Blairite conspiracy to root out supporters of Jeremy Corbyn. Because it’s only “Team Corbyn” who have received the letters.

Quite how regional office knows who’s on “Team Corbyn” is not explained. Nor how the Corbynites know that no-one else has had a letter. Believing it is, I suppose, enough.

Like their counterparts on the right, the Brextremists, Corbynites are the dog that chased the car and caught it – they have no idea what to do with it now they have it.

“You’ve won; get over it.”

Stop looking for plots and witch hunts; start leading the party.

You’re in charge now.

My thanks to the eagle-eyed reader who spotted that Douglas Trainer was paid £75,350.00 as “Compensation for loss of employment” when he left Newham Council in March.

In section 34 of the Draft Statement of Accounts 2017/18, relating to Officers’ Remuneration (page 79) it is stated that Mr D Trainer – Director of Customer and Strategic Services was paid the following:

• Salary, Fees & Allowances £112,790
• Compensation for loss of employment £75,350
• Council’s contribution to Pension Fund £23,122

This arrives at a total Remuneration Package of £211,262.

This would make Mr Trainer the highest paid employee of the Council in 2017/18.

You will recall chief executive Kim Bromley-Derry’s email to councillors of 16 March which said:

“I would like to inform you that Douglas Trainer, Director of Customer and Strategic Services, has decided to leave us to pursue new opportunities elsewhere”

If it was his decision to leave, why was he given a £75,350 parting gift?

This happened on Sir Robin’s watch. His successor – or her cabinet member for finance – should ask Mr Bromley-Derry for an explanation. And also whether Nick Bracken and Deborah Hindson, who both resigned from senior positions after the mayoral election, have received similar payments. We shouldn’t have to wait for next year’s accounts to find out.

Motion passed by West Ham Labour Party last night:

“Whether or not a political candidate has children is never an issue for men and nor should it be for women. It’s deeply inappropriate that anyone in the Labour Party – a party committed to equality- should make it so.

“The West Ham Women’s Forum aspires to a Newham in which a woman’s family status is never a barrier to achievement. There is much to be done nationally and locally to achieve this, whether further improving the child care offer for our residents or respecting the opportunities or private choices of party members and politicians. We urge all MPs, Councillors and Labour Party members to commit to this vision and work with us to achieve it.”

Lakmini Shah, take note.

Small beer compared to today’s other big news, but Douglas Trainer has left Newham Council.

In an email to councillors, chief executive Kim Bromley-Derry writes:

Dear Members

I would like to inform you that Douglas Trainer, Director of Customer and Strategic Services, has decided to leave us to pursue new opportunities elsewhere.

Douglas joined Newham Council in January 2011 as Head of Communications before taking up duties as Assistant Chief Executive in 2016 and most recently as Director of Customer and Strategic Services.

During his time here Douglas used his experience in public relations and public affairs to instil across the organisation an increased awareness of wider strategic, reputational, and policy matters.

We thank him for his contribution to delivering the council’s strategic priorities and many of our resident-facing activities.

Douglas’ contact details have been updated and he’s now available on [email redacted] and [phone redacted].

He is having some leaving drinks [details redacted] to which, he says, you are all invited.

This won’t come as much of a surprise, as rumours of his departure having been circulating for a while, along with lurid stories of him being marched out of the building.

It seems Mr Trainer got himself on the wrong side of chief operating officer Nick Bracken. And there was only ever going to be one winner in that fight.

All in all, not a great day for the Scottish community in Newham.

This time it’s Cllr Frances Clarke, cabinet member for financial inclusion and health promotion:

Dear All

I have decided not to stand again as a councillor. I shall instead be focussing on community issues including safety in  tower blocks nationally. This year is the 50th anniversary of the collapse of Ronan Point and once again we are seeing evidence of similar blocks in other parts of London with serious structural defects. This is an issue I was involved in the past and particularly in light of the Grenfell tragedy it has become a priority again. In Newham in the 80s a joint campaign of tenants and Newham council successfully led to the demolition of 9 unsafe 22 storey blocks. We went on to work nationally campaigning to make blocks safe or get them demolished.

Thank you to everyone I have worked with, it has been a privilege; thank you to Robin for giving me the opportunity to lead on MoneyWorks and the promotion of early diagnosis of cancer.

Beckton Cllr David Christie is standing down. He has written to his comrades and colleagues:

I wanted to let you know that I have decided not to stand as a councillor in May. It has been a difficult decision but I think it is the right one.

It has been an honour to represent Beckton ward for the last 8 years. I grew up here and I am so proud to have been able to represent this area and to make a difference to my community.

I am very grateful for the support that many of you have offered me and I wish you all good fortune in the future.

Running Newham council is such an important role and touches everyday life in so many ways. For me, this job has always been about making a difference to individual’s lives and this council has been able to do more than any other because of a single minded focus to support people on low incomes and to build opportunities for them and their families. That is why I have supported Robin over the last few years and hope that he will be Mayor for one final term in May. However, I am choosing to stand down now, at a time when I am proud of my achievements and can take this chance to pursue new opportunities in my career and in politics.

Given the situation we have been in over the last few months, it is a matter of much regret that I have not been able to properly discuss manifesto ideas with many of you in the way I would have wanted. I hope that whatever happens over the next few weeks, that I can contribute to the future policy agenda in Newham.

We were all elected under a Newham Labour brand. Don’t forget that, Look out for each other and see you out on a #labourdoorstep very soon!

The acting regional director of the London Labour Party has emailed Newham members:

As you may be aware, an affirmative ballot to determine the re-selection of the sitting directly-elected Mayor Newham was held in December 2016. This ballot, which was administered by the Local Campaign Forum (LCF), confirmed that Sir Robin Wales was selected as Labour’s candidate to fight the Mayoral election in May 2018.

Following the completion of this process, the party received complaints from a group of members with concerns over the eligibility status of some affiliated organisations who took part in the process. The complainants made it clear to the party that they intended to seek legal judgement on these matters in the courts.

The Labour Party maintains that all rules and procedures were applied correctly and that officers of the LCF acted in good faith with the information they were provided with.

However, a court case to determine that matter would be costly to the party and be a massive distraction away from campaigning to elect a Labour Mayor for Newham. Therefore, we have agreed to re-run the affirmative nomination process for Newham to determine if Sir Robin Wales is re-selected as Labour’s candidate for the election. The process will be administered by the Greater London Labour Party.

The ballot will be run with the same freeze date as the original process, 25th October 2016. This means that only members with six months membership at this point will be eligible to take part in any branch meetings where the affirmative vote will take place. If you are an eligible member then the party will be in touch with you to give you notice of this meeting.

We aim to complete this process as soon as possible to ensure everyone in the party can come together to play their part in delivering a successful campaign in Newham.

The local campaign forum is not being trusted to run a fair contest, so the regional party will supervise. And there will be a pre-agreed list of affiliates allowed to submit votes, which rather evens up the playing field.

Game on!