The regular constituency meeting of the Labour party was due to be held at the Laverton in Westbury last week but due to a ruling by the Party’s governing Executive Committee, the meeting was cancelled during the current leadership election period.
Despite the meeting being officially cancelled, 66 members anxious to share their views still turned up at the Laverton. A short meeting was held to update members on local by-elections and then having closed the meeting the gathering continued as a private meeting.
Mike Sutton, constituency chair, was amazed at the passionate feeling in the group. He said, “The strength of spirit in the Labour Party now against this government is quite staggering. The media driven idea that the Labour party is split is very far from the truth.
“This was a private meeting and to comply with party directives, we could not take official decisions over the leadership. But I can say that despite a variety of passionate feelings, there was no rudeness or discord in our group. There was an overwhelming concensus that we must work together to oppose the current government. A government who have reduced spending by cutting services, hurting the most disadvantaged in our society. At the same time they have cut taxes for the better off. Whatever the outcome of our leadership contest, the party is absolutely united in the desire to rid our country of this biassed government.”
The local party membership continues to break all records. Another 131 new members joined the local party in the last month alone taking the total to over 750. A far cry from the 114 it was before Jeremy Corbyn was elected.
For the first time in a very long time local people will have Labour candidates to vote for in by-elections and elections. Mike Sutton is very upbeat about the future. He continued, “People have for far too long not had a Labour candidate to vote for in local elections. That is not in the interests of democracy. With our new membership numbers from now on we will be able to field a wide selection of candidates. So watch this space.”
