BSS NEC Report
27 06 2007
The Black Socialist Society’s representative on Labour’s National Executive Committee, Keith Vaz MP, has kindly passed us a copy of his latest NEC report and update, for TMP readers’ perusal. Click here to view it: kv-nec-report-25-june-2007.pdf.
Keith is a member of the NEC’s organisation sub committee, which decides where to declare all-women shortlists for the selection of Labour’s parliamentary candidates. Seats which are presently under consideration are Ealing Southall, where there is to be a by-election following the death of Piara Khabra MP last week, and Walthamstow. The recent decisions to declare all women shortlists, in Ealing Southall in particular, have been controversial.
There has been much debate (including on these pages) about the wisdom of declaring all women shortlists in constituencies such as these, where there are high ethnic minority populations - 52.67% in Ealing Southall and 40.83 in Walthamstow - given that all women shortlists have yet to select an ethnic minority woman.
Labour sources believe it is possible that the party will revert to an open list in the case of Ealing Southall, given that there is now to be a by-election in that constituency, whereas it is thought unlikely that the decision to declare an all women shortlist in Walthamstow will be overturned.
