Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Labour Party Selection Fraud in St Ann's
After it was discovered at the St Ann's Labour Party selection candidate selection meeting that there were people present and voting who should not have been, I came home from the pub (where I'd heard about it) and wrote this article. It has subsequently been edited by site admins to remove the names of people who were embarrassed or in the final case where a journalist said it was potentially libellous. Well here I will attempt to summarise what we have subsequently found out and hopefully take people's attention away from my original appalling rant.
Back in May (The Ward AGM):
- The St Ann's Ward AGM was convened on Thursday the 23rd of May instead of the usual first Wednesday of June by the then Ward Secretary, Barbara Blake.
- Protests were made by members about this but they were rebuffed by the Ward Chairman.
- At this meeting The current Ward Secretary resigned and there was bloc voting to decide the new Ward Secretary.
- A person in the bloc opposing John Blake turned up late and was prevented from voting despite there being nothing about this in the Labour Party rules.
- John Blake was elected Ward Secretary by one vote.
The Selection Meeting:
- The meeting was run by The Secretary of the St Ann's Labour Party , and Steve Hart from Hornsey & Wood Green.
- A candidate who arrived early noticed the five members arrive with Ali Gul Ozbek, sensed that something was up and mentioned it to Barbara Blake. When the other candidate seemed unhelpful they mentioned it to Steve Hart. Then the candidate went looking for the five people but was barred from entering the room (3o minutes before the selection) by the Ward Secretary.
- By the time one member I have spoken to arrived, the five members were seated at the back of the room. Four men and one woman (who works in Ali Ozbek's Pharmacy).
- A blonde woman turned up before anyone had started speaking but was barred from entering the room by the Ward Secretary, despite remonstrating with him.
- Barbara Blake won in the first round (to select a female candidate) against Zena Brabazon and Emine Ibrahim by two votes. It was 11/1/14. Everybody voted.
- It is alleged that one candidate knew the questions in advance and had prepared answers.
- At the appropriate point in the meeting the secretary asked if everyone was OK with the others in the room and everybody laughed.
- There were various factions voting together in the room; the five new members, Charles Adje's family, Zena and David's people and the Ward Secretary's people.
- In the final round Ali Ozbek and Peter Morton were selected, beating Zena by one vote.
- Ali is a local chemist and businessman on Green Lanes who seemed very passionate about what should be done with St Ann's and spoke eloquently about the need to reduce business rates. He is also a property developer.
- At the time Peter worked as head of press for the Labour Party.
- Barbara is a trade union official and ex Ward Secretary.
After the Selection Meeting
- A fellow councillor calls David to commiserate with him.
- David Browne and Zena Brabazon did some investigation using the St Ann's Labour Party membership list and the electoral roll.
- They discovered that nineteen new members signed up that year did not actually live in St Ann's and that they had either given Green Lanes business addresses when they signed up or claimed addresses in the ward.
- Not one of these new members, many of whom were recruited on the 8th of July gave an address in the ward at which they are eligible to vote, which is required by party rules.
- Five of these members were "eligible" to vote because they signed up before the cut off date of the 30th of April, however they should have been barred from voting because they do not actually live in the ward.
- Zena and David wrote to their local Labour Party officials who sent their evidence on to the London Labour Party.
- Nobody can tell me for sure where Ali Ozbek lives but he claims an address in Finsbury Park Avenue.
- Ali Ozbek has donated money to the Labour Party.
- According to a twitter exchange with a Labour councillor in another ward, the membership list should have been gone through before the meeting by the person running it to make sure this kind of thing did not happen, it was certainly done in their ward.
- When one of the five members who voted was called at his home his partner informed the caller that he had been in Turkey for a while and was not due back yet.
- In Harringay several new Labour Party members were registered using Green Lanes business addresses but not before the cut off date.
- Barbara Blake has told local traders that it is OK to register as a member in the Labour Party from a business address (it is definitely not) and the Tottenham Membership Secretary has expressed a similar view in a meeting, only to be corrected.
The "Corruption in Haringey Labour" article.
- After I wrote the original article, in which I also made some allegations against Claire Kober, the only phone call to site admins was to remove the Secretary of the St Ann's Labour party's name from the discussion.
- There was a lot of comment on the original thread and as of Saturday the 12th of October it appears to have been viewed more than 7000 times, although I dispute that as a useful metric (I think the actual figure is much lower).
- After some badgering it was picked up by an overworked Stephen Moore at the Tottenham Journal, here.
Trying to get a re-run
- I have pushed the councillor who commiserated David on his loss on Twitter to join calls asking for a re-run of the election but they have resolutely refused, to the point where it's all a bit weird and "la la la, I can't hear you".
- As it stands the London Labour Party have agreed that the five people were not eligible to vote but they say that this was not picked up before or during the meeting so the result stands. Their investigation consisted of speaking to the Ward Secretary and Steve Hart. Steve Hart lied because someone did speak to him before the meeting.
- The London Labour Party have the attendance list and will not release it, presumably because it shows that people were not identified correctly and that at least two of the five were imposters.
- Appeals to the NEC have all been rebuffed, even with the full acknowledgement of what went on.
The Labour doorstep in Harringay
- The St Ann's Labour Party have a great deal of trouble getting members to help them out with canvassing. A photograph has been tweeted showing more than 20 people out in Harringay Ward above the same session in St Ann's, with just two.
- When David Lammy, after a lot of badgering apparently, stepped out in St Ann's for the Labour doorstep he was met by a picket of local men calling on him not to support the St Ann's fraudsters. As I understand it he will not be going out with them again.
The Police are involved
- On Monday the 10th of February Haringey MPS made a visit to me on behalf of the secretary of the St Ann's Labour Party and his partner.
- It was alleged that I had called him filth on Twitter (which I have not, that was someone else) and that I said "I know I'm hassling you but...". I was served with a Notice of Harassment Letter which will now appear in extended CRB checks.
*An individual has asked that their name be replaced with their function in this post on the grounds that they are not seeking public office. This has been done.
Tags for Forum Posts: election2014, labour, st ann's labour, stanns
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by HoL Site Admin on
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Just a reminder of house rules, folks. If you join a political debate and you hold an elected position in a political party or are a prospective candidate seeking election, we would ask you to make that clear at the end of your posts.
For examples, see Alan Stanton's declarations of interest on his posts.
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Permalink Reply by Cllr Emina Ibrahim on
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Apologies I should have made that clear - John D apologies for deleting the response however it has been reposted.
Emine Ibrahim
(Labour Party candidate for Harringay Ward)
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Permalink Reply by Keith Waterhouse on
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Tried to slip one under the wire, personal agenda first.
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Hi Keith
It's not possible to go under the radar as I am named in the main article as a shortlisted candidate in St Ann's. Also in the previous article a post refers to my selection in Harringay with regard to the fact that both me and Gina are of Cypriot origin.
Emine Ibrahim
(Labour Party candidate for Harringay Ward)
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Thank you for sharing that with me.
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
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Keith, we haven't met and I hope you won't mind if I say that race and ethnicity are not the key points in this. I agree that such issues do need serious discussion online and - probably more productively - face to face. In Tottenham of all places these issues can't and shouldn't be an invisible "elephant in the room".
But with the St Ann's selection, it seems to me that the central point is the evidence of rule-breaking. Which has implications about fairness, trust, and the credibility of Labour's candidates. The Labour Party has clear rules about joining, which are spelled out in this and Part 1 of John McMullan's thread. When people join they must give their home address; and be on the electoral register at that address.
Incidentally, thanks for your kind comment about my partner Zena Brabazon. However, in my personal view, the issue now goes well beyond Zena, David Browne and Nilgun Canver the three sitting councillors. It's now about whether or not the National Labour Party will step in - after it has been given substantive and detailed evidence of rule-breaking to alter the outcome of council candidate selection,
Ed Miliband called for people to: "Speak up for decency in British politics." I agree. The Party's National Executive Committee can overrule its apparatchiks and let some fresh air, sunshine and decency into Haringey's Labour politics.
And while I'm at it, can I also speak up for Emina Ibrahim. Well before the St Ann's selection I met and talked with Emina and I thought she'd make an excellent local councillor. In discussions following the St Ann's meeting, Emina has been one of the brave and principled people. Strengthening my positive view of her. Harringay ward residents please take note.
(Tottenham Hale ward councillor. My partner Zena Brabazon is one of the two deselected councillors for St Ann's ward. The other is Cllr David Browne.)
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Alan. I understand your concerns about the selection process but the problem I have is that it can be exploited in its present form and with complete impunity until there are proper stops , checks and balances in place. My axe to grind is simple: St Anns Ward is stagnating because of personal agendas and a lack of commitment to the WHOLE community, wherever that lack comes from for whatever reasons. Someone has to say it and I did , and if I identify it again, which is easy with most candidates and councillors I will. If they want my vote they can thundering well demonstrate that their personal agendas do not lead to discrimination in favour of one group of people because that discriminates against the rest of us, and that is not fair either. I think those who took offence to my Martian metaphor knew exactly where I was coming from.
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Permalink Reply by pamish on
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Elected officers - whether councillors, MPs, prime ministers, chair of tea trolley dept, have to represent not just their 'core constituency' but the whole of that population - including those who voted against them. Could it be that this sometimes gets forgotten?
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Pamish-in my experience it does not get forgotten at all as it was never the intention in the first place. I promote as an individual, the WHOLE of St Anns Ward, not just a bit that suits me, not just my bit where I live or where my neighbours are but the WHOLE community regardless of their race , creed, colour ethnic origin or anything else. There are those who do not like my Martian argument because I have hit a raw nerve. Tough.
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Permalink Reply by Alison P on
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I've been following this for a few weeks now. I have no great insights or knowledge, but as someone who has often voted Labour in local council elections I'm really really put off by this - it stinks. As do some of the responses you've got to your digging John, I'm still wondering - for instance - how racism comes into the equation.
I don't live in St Anns so I'm not directly affected. If I did I would seriously consider not voting for any of these candidates, no matter how well-meaning any of them are. I'll be interested in how our local Labour candidates respond to any questions about this - I'll certainly ask, should any visit.
Like others here, I too would welcome knowing the logic behind the decision that the selection process was fair.
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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
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Oh but you ARE affected Alison. Peter Moreton, who was selected to stand in St Ann's was also shortlisted for Harringay if he did not get in there. He is the Labour Party's "Head of Press" nationally and so a nice big cheese that may have been a cabinet member, something Harringay desperately needs.
There are other implications but that is the one that bothers me.
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