Eleven Labour Party committee members resign in Copeland after row

Credit: PA Images.

The whole of a local Labour committee in Cumbria has resigned, in a row about selecting the party's candidate for MP.

It comes after Cllr Joseph Ghayouba was allegedly blocked from the list of candidates to represent the party in the next general election.

It's understood the successful candidate would be the party's candidate for the 'Whitehaven and Workington constituency' seat proposed in the boundary review. 

The resigning party members hit out at the selection process and criticised the national Labour Party saying that "local members in Copeland have been denied a vote and a voice".

Responding to the claims, a Labour Party spokesman said: “Working people, families, and pensioners in Copeland deserve a Labour MP and a Keir Starmer-led Labour government to deliver a fairer, greener future for Britain.

“We are pleased to be able to confirm that a longlist of strong candidates has now been drawn up and Labour’s candidate to contest the general election will soon be selected by local party members.”

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A resignation statement issued on behalf of the outgoing Copeland Labour Party Executive Committee and Copeland parliamentary selection committee members said: "In 2020, after he became Labour Party leader, Sir Keir Starmer said that local Labour members should be able to select their candidates, and that 'the party should be at the forefront of championing diversity'.

"What we've seen, in reality, is the opposite. Local members in Copeland have been denied a vote and a voice by the National Executive Committee.

"Members in Copeland have been denied a fair selection process and will not get to choose their own candidate."

What is the National Executive Committee?

The National Executive Committee (NEC) is the governing body of the Labour Party, overseeing the overall direction of the party and the policy-making process. 

The resignation statement alleges that the national Labour Party has blocked the secretary of the Copeland branch, Joseph Ghayouba, from its longlist of candidates.

In his own statement posted on social media, Mr Ghayouba said: "I applied for the Parliamentary selection having been urged to do so by a large number of members.

"I received trade union nominations, which according to the rules would mean I automatically get on to the 'longlist'.

"Sadly, despite my track record locally, I have been excluded from the 'longlist' and members which are at the heart of our party and movement have been denied a chance to have a meaningful say on whether or not I should be their candidate in the upcoming elections."

Who has resigned?

  • Cllr Jean Murray, executive committee chair

  • ClIr Linda Jones- Bulman, executive committee vice chair

  • ClIr Nicholas Graham, membership secretary, executive committee

  • Margaret Lamb, executive committee treasurer

  • ClIr Mike Hawkins, executive committee member and selection panel procedures secretary

  • Flo Hanlon, woman's officer, executive committee member

  • Karl Connor, executive committee

  • Cllr Graham Minshaw, executive committee

  • Tony Lywood, executive committee member

  • ClIr Robert White, communications officer and executive committee

  • Stan Sanczuk, executive committee member

The next general election must be held no later than January 2025.

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