The London Labour Party has blocked a Lambeth council candidate from standing for election in May.
Adeline Aina, left, has been told she cannot stand as the party’s candidate in the local elections because of “unanswered questions” about her role in a tenant management organisation.
A statement from the London Labour Party said the decision to stop her from standing for office was “the only realistic outcome in the interests of both Ms Aina and the Labour Party” because of “serious questions that could not be resolved at this time.” The questions relate to an investigation into the Patmos Area Community Conservation Association (PACCA) Tenants Management Organisation, of which Aina is estate director and board secretary, the party said.
Aina has been at the centre of a row with the local Labour party since last summer. In July she and a group of supporters staged a protest on Windrush Square after the local party called her in for a hearing.
She had beaten the senior councillor Pete Robbins by one vote to win a place as a council candidate for the Larkhall ward.
At the time Simon Woolley, director of the equality campaign group Operation Black Vote, said in an article on the OBV website: “The local party should be warned against this shocking witch hunt.”
But council leader Lib Peck responded that Aina had been called in for questions because the party had to “make sure that council candidates selected are of the upmost integrity and have the ability to hold such an important local office.”
More to follow.
So this has nothing to do with Cllr Pete Robbins being in danger of having nowhere to stand in the borough?
Another example of the self-interest of this so-called ‘co-operative council’ and the lengths they will go to get their way.
Our campaign against housing co-op evictions has seen every trick in the book used to try and stop meaningful negotiations, including the denial of Freedom of Information requests. We have also had a Councillor Call for Action thwarted under mysterious circumstances, ditto a special meeting of the council, plus officers and Lib Peck refuse to answer direct questions on matters that have serious implications for the eviction policy.
Meanwhile, Cllr Robbins, as cabinet member for housing, likes to go around making misleading comments about what is happening with the money raised from this community purge, as well as various other statements that do not add up. He has also taken it upon himself to slag off our higher profile supporters who also happen to be our neighbours.
Then there are the categorical statements of support we had from two Labour councillors in particular, Cllr Wellbelove and Cllr Haselden. Their promises to housing co-op communities have counted for nothing as these people are now happy to sit back and watch OAPs being evicted from their homes – despite once vowing to back up these long-established communities. As you may already know Jimmy Rogers is one of the people affected by this policy, further proof that the current Labour administration has no moral compass.
I agree: Helen O’Malley put her constituents ahead of the Town Hall. This is also why the Lambeth Labour dislikes Kate Hoey.
I wonder how much credibility O’Malley’s replacement has in Clapham Town given that she’ll be seen by many as a Town Hall stooge?
Peter Robbins is currently the subject of a serious complaint submitted to the Co-operative Party. He has repeatedly failed to uphold the basic values of the Co-op Party.
I’d say his demonstrable lack of principles should exclude him from this election.
The basis of all this is that Lambeth Labour/ Lambeth council is morally bankrupt, and desperate.
Clapham Town ward councillor, Helen O’Malley, was deselected, without consultation with the local Labour branch, because she represented her constituents in the face of Lambeth council’s cynical eviction of law-abiding residents. Lambeth council didn’t like it and Lambeth Labour made her pay.