More than a dozen County Durham constituency officials have resigned from the Labour party amid claims it does not want working class campaigners to contest for a marginal seat.
Several members of Sedgefield Labour have resigned amid accusations of a “stich-up” after the longlist for the next parliamentary candidate was revealed.
A scathing letter signed by members of the Sedgefield team was sent to Labour Party officials earlier this week, accusing the party of taking decisions out of the hands of local constituents.
The resignations include former chairman of Sedgefield Constituency Labour Party (CLP) Paul Daly, who was not selected as a candidate in the process.
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The letter reads: “After years of hard work and dedication to Sedgefield CLP it has now become abundantly clear, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the voice of the CLIP, its officers and Sedgefield members as a whole are disposable of the party.
“Our Labour is used when needed and actively discouraged when it becomes a hindrance.
“We as officers can not in good conscious continue on with our work, when ever decision is taken out of our hands, even the ones we were elected to carry out.
“We do hope that one day real democracy, fairness and Solidarity will find its way back to our CLP but at present the direction does not represent us and our beliefs.”
The damning statement comes after Alan Strickland, Ash Singh, Vicky McGurk and Laura Harris were announced to contest the Conservative MP Paul Howell’s seat.
The seat was previously held by Labour’s Phil Wilson who took over from former Prime Minister Tony Blair.
In a Twitter post after the letter was released, former chairman Daly added: “Sedgefield stitch up. Not even a soft left candidate with super nominations on the longlist. I had a great deal of Trade union and Socialist society backing including ASLEF, Unison and CWU.
“Sadly this didn't matter. My "political judgement" which I can only assume translates as democratic socialist, in relation to my work with @SocialistTank and my own social media describing criticism I heard about Starmer kept me off the longlist.
“Despite saying they are democratic socialists on the membership card, Labour do not want people who will advance the cause of working class people and trade unions in Parliament. They are neither democratic nor socialist.
“That said, I feel utterly relieved given the parade of ghouls, transphobes and bullies who have reappeared in the Party locally. Love and solidarity to all who had hope and supported me, especially those trade unions mentioned and all real democratic socialists. Absolute gems.”
In response to the fallout, a Labour spokesperson said: “We are pleased to have a long list of fantastic candidates for Sedgefield. This constituency has been badly let down by the Conservatives, Sedgefield needs a Labour MP under a Labour government to deliver the jobs and growth of the future, and an economy that works for everyone.”
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