Party bosses in the Manchester Central parliamentary selection have been forced to back down and allow proxy voting, following the threat of legal action.
The party had originally taken the highly unusual step of banning postal voting on the grounds that the process was being run on a tight timescale.
However Labour Uncut learns that Anna Hutchinson, the party’s regional director in the north west, who is acting as procedures secretary, has now written to candidates confirming that proxy voting will be allowed during the selection meeting next Monday (16 April).
This followed complaints by at least two of the four candidates – Manchester councillors Mike Amesbury and Rosa Battle – together with constituency party officers, local councillors and several party members who feared many elderly and disabled members would effectively have been disenfranchised by the ban on postal voting.
It is believed one of the members who complained sought legal advice on the basis that the party’s draconian ruling infringed the Disability Discrimination Act.
As well as Amesbury and Battle, the nomination is being contested by Ed Miliband’s deputy chief of staff, Lucy Powell, and Patrick Vernon who runs a health charity in London.
The Manchester Central selection is caused by the decision of sitting MP Tony Lloyd to contest the new role as Greater Manchester’s Police and Crime Commissioner. He held the seat at the last election with a majority of 10,430.
The by-election is scheduled to be held on 15 November, the same day as elections for the 41 police commissioners.
Tags: Lucy Powell, Manchester Central, Mike Amesbury, proxy voting, Rosa Battle
OK. But check the applications for proxy carefully and ask for evidence or proof, and any that look a bit dodgy and don’t stand up, bin. Postal voting is open to too much abuse and is inclined to make the electorate lazy.
But these ‘selections’ always depend on who can muster their cronies in busloads on the night. Lets have ‘open primaries’ in future for a fairer selection.
Why would open primaries be fairer? People come along who have no connection with the Labour party and may actively oppose them. So why be a party member at all? Why have political parties at all?