“We are literally shaking with anger”

JVL Introduction

News that Maurice McLeod, local favourite to become Labour’s Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Camberwell & Peckham, had been dropped from the selection process, caused outrage way beyond his south London constituency.

A leading member of Labour Black Socialists reacted with disbelief: “We are literally shaking with anger. The party have blocked one of our best activists.”  We publish LBS’s powerful statement below.

Prominent journalist Gary Younge, who has known McLeod for many years, expressed his dismay on Twitter, saying the message from the Labour Party to the Black community was “We want your votes but not your voice.”

He hit back at apologists for the Labour leadership who say plenty of Black and Asian candidates have been allowed to go forward as candidates: “So you’re saying the Labour hierarchy should choose the Black people it likes, not Labour members?”

McLeod’s own announcement, reproduced in full at the bottom of this post, made clear what he thinks is going on:

“Last night, I was blocked from standing to be the next Labour MP for Camberwell & Peckham. I’m gutted. The Party is saying it has no place for an anti-racist socialist like me in Parliament.” 

For chapter and verse on factional interference in selections at local government level, see a revealing article by Richard Price, A Licence to Cheat? on page 11 of the Campaign  for Labour Party Democracy’s Autumn Briefing.


Labour Black Socialists (LBS) outraged by the elimination of Maurice McCleod as Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for the Labour Party

LBS is left breathless over the non-selection of Councillor Maurice Mcleod for the next stage of the selection process for prospective Labour Party Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Camberwell & Peckham.

LBS believes that this is due not because of shortcomings of Councillor Maurice. For he has ticked all the boxes to go to the next stage. Whatever the requirement, he met it with hard work and a smile. Always.

Maurice has a long history of working for the least in society. He is a black socialist. His starting point will always be the condition of the least in society and that almost invariably is black and brown people. For him there is no hierarchy of sympathy and solidarity. He stands with poor people of all ethnicities.

That he has a solid track record as a Councillor should have counted. The endorsement of Aslef and Unite, the Union should have meant that he automatically goes to the next stage. That he is a black man with a commitment to poor people should have mean that he is black gold politically.

Alas, Maurice was stopped in his tracks because Aslef and Unite the Union are the wrong types of unions. He earned the endorsement of these trade unions because he does not put career aspirations above solidarity with workers, especially those who are on the picket line. Maurice remains true to the founding principles of the Labour Party and the workers who founded the party.

The many local Councillors who supported him are of the wrong political persuasions. The MPs who endorsed him have the wrong political commitments. The ordinary people who tweeted, posted and forwarded for him are the wrong keyboard people. Maurice’s blocking seems to suggest that having solid support in the community that you wish to represent in parliament might be a reason not to be selected. The wishes of local party members, the local community and local stakeholders appear not to matter much.

LBS believes that this blocking is indicative of the lack of transparency and democracy in the Labour Party. Local selection committees are needed without central control by the party.

LBS believes that he should advance to the next stage of the selection process.

LBS urges (some might say “demands that”) the NEC to add Councillor Maurice to the next stage because of his track record as a Councillor, a campaigner, a human being and the local support that he has. But, he should also be added to the list for the next stage because he is a rarity even in the Labour Party. That is a black man who has integrity, honesty, decency and courage with an unshakeable commitment to the 14 million poor people in the UK, especially widows, orphans, children, migrants, refugees and homeless people. This is a black man who believes that the state must shield these people from the worst effects of the market.

Maurice McLeod’s statement issued on Saturday October 15

Comments (9)

  • Maurice Mcleod says:

    Thank you for saying all this. Solidarity

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  • Les Hartop says:

    Great sympathy and solidarity to Maurice, the latest victim of Starmer’s anti-democratic ‘Labour’ Party.

    What do we do now ?

    Stay in and support genuine, democratically chosen left wing MPs/candidates, whilst others in areas like Peckham and Islington campaign for Jeremy Corbyn and Maurice as non-‘Labour’ candidates ?

    There could be an election sooner than we think.

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  • Alfie Benge says:

    This is really wicked. No effort whatsoever to try to to do the very best for the community, or bother to listen to them.
    I vaguely remember, 40 yrs ago, (I hope I got the right borough) before there were any black MPs there was a hope that the black nominee would become the candidate for the Camberwell and Peckham by-election. This would have been an important moment for the whole black community. It was just after the riots involving black youth in many locations, which showed their level of discontent and alienation. I remember a lot of disappointment when Harriet Harman was chosen instead. Now would be the perfect opportunity to ensure that this time, the community got who they wanted. The lack of imagination and careless behaviour by the Party towards most minorities has obviously not improved, and now they also have to contend with the banning of socialists. As well as showing huge disrespect , the Labour Party’s habit of dismissing local preference ,seems to me extremely stupid.

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  • Tim Rossiter says:

    Stand as an independent.

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  • Margaret West says:

    It is pure arrogance ..
    and they think they can get away with it ..

    But there appears to be many more excellent
    people who are purged or deselected after triggering
    with blatant vote rigging

    Starmer and Evans have a little list –

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  • John W says:

    The Labour Party is a shit-pit. It makes me feel dirty to stay in it – but I won’t leave because I know that that’s what they want me to do. A Labour Govt. will be better than this Tory Government – but it is increasingly a choice between Tweedledee and Tweedledum. You can tell the politics of a party by looking at its international and foreign policy and where is the Labour Party? Up the anus of the USA. Boris Johnson’s ‘advice’ to his scuccessor summed it up in the very first sentence – ‘Stick close to AMERICA’…..

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  • Colin Lomas says:

    Following the Al Jazeera “Labour Files” the exclusion of Maurice MaCleod is the last straw. I’ll quit the party today.
    The party has become utterly devoid of principles. It is now a moral vacuum.

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  • Stephen Richards says:

    see me as a person, not just the colour of my skin.

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  • Mark Elf says:

    This is the elephant in the room, a tweet from Labour rightist who seems totally unconcerned about racism generally but is very specific about how he wants antisemitism defined:
    https://twitter.com/adrianmcmenamin/status/1581693186916814848?t=f4IbAbJlCnl5KngUiP9fSg&s=19

    Maurice McLeod is on the record – repeatedly – opposing the full adoption of the IHRA’s working definition of anti-semitism. In my view once you understand that it is obvious and correct that he wasn’t long-listed. All six people who have been long-listed are non-white.

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Comments are now closed.