Bolton North East: Labour CLP suspended until further notice

In a surprise move members of the Bolton North East Constituency Labour Party were first told in this week that the suspension had come into effect.

According to an email seen exclusively by The Bolton News, this means that the branch will be run by an official appointed from outside until further notice.

A Bolton Labour source said: “What this really is, is about shutting down the party.

“This isn’t a left and right issue, it’s really just about shutting down politics and just having us there as a campaign group.”

The branch is expected to be suspended until at least after the next general election (Image: Newsquest)

The email was sent on Friday morning to all members of the Bolton North East CLP.

It said: “The NEC has a duty to safeguard the integrity of CLPs, to ensure that they are properly run in line with the party’s rules and procedures and can operate fully, inclusively and democratically.

“As a result of this decision all CLP meetings will cease until further notice and all CLP officers will be relieved of their positions and duties until the point where the CLP is reconstituted following the outcome of future investigations. 

“Branches will continue to operate and a structure will be put in place to ensure the smooth running of the general election campaign.”

The suspension comes just a month before the branch had been due to discuss a motion on finances which called for a special general meeting which would see a full statement of audited accounts presented.

A copy of the motion, also seen The Bolton News, says that this was meant to “ensure that the CLP is compliant with party rules on finance.”

The motion said: “To ensure that the CLP is compliant with party rules on finance and that monies are appropriately allocated to the right accounts this CLP agrees the next meeting of the CLP should be a special general meeting.  

“At that meeting a full set of audited accounts should be presented to the CLP for approval.”

But it is understood that the branch had agreed to withdraw the motion before the suspension was announced.  

Bolton North East, currently represented by Conservative MP Mark Logan, is one of the most marginal seats in the country and set to be one of the most hard fought battles in the next general election.

At the last election in 2019, Mr Logan was elected with a majority of just a few hundreds votes ahead of Labour’s David Crausby.

Earlier this year Kirith Entwistle was selected as Labour’s candidate after a selection process ahead of Cllr Akhtar Zaman and Cllr Rabiya Jiva, who are both cabinet members at Bolton Council.

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During the selection, nine of the 13 members of the party’s local executive resigned in protest at what they called a “clique in London’” trying to promote a candidate against their wishes.

One of the issues which is believed to have angered the resigning committee members was the absence from the list of chair of North West Labour, Leigh Drennan, who they claim was blocked from standing.

The suspension means that the local party’s general management committee has been replaced with a “constituency campaign team”, which will be run by a convenor appointed from outside.

CLP branches have been told they should continue to meet but this will be open to a further review based on the recommendations of the campaign team.

A Labour Party Spokesperson said: “The Labour Party has received a significant number of complaints regarding the conduct of Labour Party members which has resulted in Bolton North East Constituency Labour Party (CLP) being suspended.”

“The NEC has a duty to safeguard the integrity of CLPs, to ensure that they are properly run in line with the party’s rules and procedures and can operate fully, inclusively and democratically.

“This standard has not been met which is why the NEC have taken the firm decision to suspend the CLP.”

Source – INDIA TV