WARRINGTON South CLP have voted to back Owen Smith in the Labour leadership challenge following a well attended meeting at Bold Street Methodist Church.
The leadership nomination meeting was to decide whether as a constituency party Warrington South CLP wanted to back Jeremy Corbyn or Owen Smith for the Labour Leadership.
Exactly 100 Labour members attended the event – a record attendance for a Warrington South Labour meeting.
Nick Bent
There were five speakers on behalf of each candidate, with each speaker chosen randomly through a lottery ticket system to ensure fairness, as far more members wanted to speak than there was time for.
One of those chosen to speak was former Warrington South General election candidate Nick Bent, who backed Owen Smith.
Two of the other speakers for Owen Smith were people who had previously supported Corbyn but now believe Corbyn is failing as a Leader and must be replaced.
Mr Bent said: “We had a robust, fair and civilised debate and a free democratic vote, in the finest tradition of the Labour movement.”
Owen Smith won the vote by a comfortable margin of 13 votes, with a total of 56 votes while Jeremy Corbyn got 43 votes. There was one spoilt ballot paper.
It is the second time that Jeremy Corbyn has failed to win the Warrington South nomination – last year, it was Yvette Cooper who secured the CLP nomination.
Mr Bent added: “Cllr Steve Wright chaired the meeting brilliantly and everybody respected the outcome and everybody parted as friends. That’s how we do things in Warrington South.”
These nominations by local Labour parties have no direct impact on the final result of the leadership contest but they are an important indicator of support. Every individual Labour member can vote for whichever leadership candidate they prefer when ballot papers are issued by Party HQ in August.
Mr Bent concluded:“I was pleased to speak on behalf of Owen Smith and delighted that Owen won the nomination. Under Owen Smith, Labour would reconnect positively with a broad range of voters and give Labour a fighting chance of winning back Tory-held seats like Warrington South and getting back into Government.”
Cllr Wright said: “A lot of careful preparation was put into ensuring that the large meeting was smoothly and democratically run by an effective team on the night. The room was full to capacity and I am really pleased that so many members were able to come along to engage with a healthy debate.
“I’m delighted that the membership of the CLP is growing very quickly and currently totals nearly 1000, with over 600 eligible to vote in the leadership election. I am committed to leading a comradely constituency Labour Party where everyone is welcome and all views are valued”
2 Comments
Warrington South Conservatives and Lib Dems will be smiling tonight. If Nick Bent thinks a ‘second place Tory candidate’ will gain ‘true blue’ votes he’s living in Cuckoo Land. It’s far more likely that if Tory voters defect it will be to the Lib Dems. Also, Bent’s backstabbing of Corbyn will have lost his party some ‘Real Labour’ votes and the potential support of those ‘Real Labour ‘ voters who don’t usually bother to go to the ballot box but might have for a ‘Real Labour’ leader.
So Nick Bent wants to oust Jeremy Corbyn on the grounds that he is unelectable. A quick newsflash, Corbyn hasn’t had the opportunity to prove himself in an election yet, unlike you Mr. Bent who has tried and failed to win Warrington South for years now. I presume, seeing as you are a serial loser and proven to be unelectable you won’t be standing again?