Pete Willsman in the Plumstead Badlands IV

Latest update on comrade Pete Willsman’s last ditch attempts to get himself validly nominated for this year’s election to Labour’s ruling national executive committee (NEC).

At the Erith & Thamesmead executive committee (EC) last night, Willsman’s Plumstead branch (he still appears on the Erith and Thamesmead membership list, though he has now transferred to Oxford East) moved a resolution for the next general committee (GC) that Erith and Thamesmead’s NEC nominations be reopened. It was defeated.

It was said that Willsman had been branch secretary for 15 years. His recent move to Oxford was not cited.

South east London sources also report that last month Willsman stood for the executive committee of the Greenwich local government committee (LGC) and was also pretty roundly defeated. It is not clear how he hoped, last month, to square membership of Greenwich LGC’s EC with living in east Oxford.

More information on the circumstances surrounding this traditionally left-wing CLP’s withdrawal of support has come from another helpful comrade in the Plumstead lands:

He was the only member of our GC to support an all women shortlist (AWS). He supported the AWS decision at the NEC and told us that he had done this. What he didn’t tell us was that he had told other NEC members that our CLP supported the AWS decision.

This kind of thing continued throughout the selection process.

You will recall that our procedures secretary was removed, our shortlisting GC cancelled, our chair removed from chairing the hustings, not to mention that the postal vote ballot box was broken into at Victoria Street. We remain of the view that many of these and other decisions (obviously not the ballot box) were taken as a result of the ramblings of one of our own members sitting at the NEC.

We appreciate that he was not there as our delegate but he did constantly report back to us what he had said to defend our CLP at the NEC. Unfortunately for him several other members of the NEC have told us that he had in fact said the opposite to what he had told us.

Uncut stands ready to help broker a conclusion. Email us if you want to help too.


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5 Responses to “Pete Willsman in the Plumstead Badlands IV”

  1. Peter Kenyon says:

    Dear Labour Uncut

    I cannot comment on the specifics about who said what to whom re E&T at the NEC, as I think most of this business, if not all, was considered by the Organisation sub-committee, of which Pete Willsman is a members and I am not.

    But I did suggest the need for an NEC:They Work for You site here:

    http://petergkenyon.typepad.com/peterkenyon/2010/07/imagine-a-labour-nec-they-work-for-you-service.html

    Peter Kenyon
    elected member, Labour Party NEC – constituency section
    seeking re-election in 2010

    Candidate statement here: http://www.savethelabourparty.org/nec.html

  2. Gender imbalance says:

    This chap seems to be hounded out of his CLP for supporting AWS. I for one applaud his actions. I cant imagine what the newly elected MP – Teresa Pearce must be making of all this.

  3. Alex says:

    Gender imbalance – AWS is a divisive issue. Perhaps he did make himself unpopular by supporting AWS at all, but it seems to me that the main issue is that he allegedly lied.

  4. Mark Seddon says:

    I understand that these allegations have been refuted by Pete Willsman, and in the interest of balance ‘Labour Uncut’ may wish to consider publishing them. Willsman has also published a full statement on ‘Labour Futures’.

  5. Editor says:

    @ Mark Seddon

    Thanks Mark. If Pete would like to contact us he can. editorial[at]labour-uncut.co.uk

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