Statement to Press | Labour Leadership
Following several media requests for comment or appearances from the Tottenham Labour Party Chair or Secretary we are releasing this statement.
The Tottenham Labour Party is led by its members. Over the past nine months over 1,500 Tottenham residents have made the step to join the Labour party – tripling our membership to unprecedented levels.
Our party is a democratically run organisation; the way policy, statements and positions - including the Leadership - are chosen is through a ballot of our members.
Our members are the backbone of our movement; without them we could not function, win elections or understand what our communities and country needs.
The members of Tottenham Labour Party overwhelmingly nominated Jeremy Corbyn to be the Leadership candidate and no ballot has yet taken place which suggests that this is no longer the position.
The voice of our members is sovereign.
As officers of the Tottenham Labour Party, we have our personal views on what is going on with the Labour Party nationally, but they do not become the views of the local party until we democratically agree it does.
Based on this principle, it would be wrong for us as elected officers of the Tottenham Labour Party to go on the TV or speak to newspapers about what our members think about the MPs’ motion without seeking their views first in a democratic fashion.
To do so will endorse the behaviour we have seen in the last couple of days which, regardless of your view on the Leadership, sends a clear signal that the mandate of members is not respected.
Democracy is at the heart of what Labour stands for and it is the position we as elected officers will take until our members who gave us our mandate tell us otherwise via a ballot.
Regards
Russell Dove – Acting Co-Chair of the Tottenham CLP / Vice Chair Membership
Gideon Bull - Acting Co-Chair of the Tottenham CLP / Vice Chair Campaigns
Seema Chandwani – CLP Secretary