Reports that senior Labour party officials have already “fixed” who will be next General Secretary before a short-list has been drawn up, has come under vociferous attack by the grassroots.

Yesterday, Dan Hodges at the New Statesman revealed that Chris Lennie was already chosen by senior party officials, even though the selection process hadn’t quite finished.

That report attracted an avalanche of criticism directed at the party.

LabourList editor Mark Ferguson wrote:

What is happening here is a classic clash between the old politics of stitch-ups and the new politics of transparency. The latter had better win. Attempts to brief an inevitability campaign wont impress those who want to see the party turn over a new leaf. Insider briefings that seek to override party democracy is exactly what we need to move beyond.

Labour members deserve better than this. Now it’s time for Ed to prove that his promises mean something.

He was echoed by the popular grassroots activist Johanna Baxter, also a member of Labour NEC:

Who knows who Ed’s choice is – I certainly don’t. But if he’s serious about his commitment to Refounding Labour, to changing our party to give greater power back to the members, I wouldn’t have thought he would have wanted the NEC to be excluded from, or cajoled, in this process.

The (departing) Fabian Society General Secretary Sunder Katwala also weighed in this morning:

So it may be that Hodges’ senior party sources aim to persuade rival candidates to withdraw ahead of the contest. But this idea expressed in the piece of excluding strong contenders in case they might prove more impressive at interview in their vision of the role should be flagged clearly offside – and explicitly rejected by the leader and NEC.

Elsewhere, Jon Lansman at Left Futures also deplores the stitch-up.

Reader comments

1. Liberal Conspiracy

   Labour grassroots rebel against party chair "fix" http://bit.ly/iy7POS

2. Andy S

   Labour grassroots rebel against party chair "fix" http://bit.ly/iy7POS

3. Griffin Brighton

   “@libcon: Labour grassroots rebel against party chair "fix" http://t.co/8ZAoy2A” don't fix the chair.

4. sunny hundal

   Labour grassroots rebel against General Secretary “fix” by upper echelons http://bit.ly/iy7POS

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