The Labour Party is undertaking a process to choose a candidate to run for Mayor of London. This process is in four parts,
- Application Stage – now complete
- Nomination Stage – closes 10th June
- Selection Panel Stage – currently advertised as complete on 13th June
- Voting – starts 12th August, finishes Noon 12th September
The misleadingly named Nomination stage is (to be) performed by members at all members meetings and by affiliated organisations according to their own rules. Candidates need five nominations to be considered in the Selection Panel stage, there are 72 Labour Party membership organisations in London, together with at least 13 trade unions plus the socialist societies, five is not a high threshold.
The Selection panel stage will be closed and opaque, and has previously caused some controversy, but its one of the reasons that the nomination stage takes place to allow a visible indication of support; perhaps they’ve learnt from the European Parliamentary selection. (The panel consists of 6 members and may have been chosen by lottery.)
Voting will be done by all London members, affiliate members and registered supporters, will be conducted using a secret postal ballot (or on-line). There are no “colleges” so each vote is of equal worth. This is the “One Member, One Vote” closed primary promised when Labour’s Special Conference adopted the recommendations and rule changes of the Collins Review. You can join, or become a registered supporter by going to the Labour’s Party’s join us page. Affiliated membership is via your trade union or an affiliated socialist society.