Debt-riddled Labour Party refudiates former Deputy Prime Minister
With the British Labour Party's treasury swimming up to its gills in debt, tbe party has made the peculiar move of rejecting a former Deputy Prime Minister.
In doing so, the party also put some distance between itself and the spectre of New Labour.
Lord John Prescott, former Deputy PM under Tony Blair, was defeated for the office of party treasurer by Diana Holland, an official with Britain's Unite union.
Holland seems to share Prescott's dismal view of the party's finances, even if she doesn't phrase it in the same apocalyptic language as Prescott.
Her plan is to right the party's finances on the strength of small donors.
"I will work hard to build a stronger party in all respects, not just financial, and I will make putting us on a sound footing to win the next election my top priority," Holland announced. "I will make recruiting and involving new members a real priority, helping to build a mass membership movement and also helping to secure our finances by maximising small donations from ordinary members and supporters."
Holland was able to defeat Prescott on the strength of the votes coming from affiliated labour unions. Prescott received 60% of the votes from the party members, but only 0.14% of the vote from affiliated unions.
In other words, Holland received nearly 100% of union votes in the race, in addition to 40% of the votes from party members.
Even with the ballot favourably weighted toward party members, the math seems to add up to a near-overwhelming defeat.
Even with Holland's promises to correct the disastrous state of Labour's finances, the question remains as to what the future of Labour's finances will be.
Given the role the union vote played in her election, Diana Holland may have some favours to repay. Whatever effect that will have on Labour's finances remains to be seen.
Showing posts with label John Prescott. Show all posts
Showing posts with label John Prescott. Show all posts
Monday, September 27, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
Hard Labour Ahead for Labour's Finances
Labour party 20 million Pounds in debt
The Labour party leadership won't be the only office the Labour Party will need to fill this year.
A far-more-quiet campaign has been ongoing to choose a new Treasurer for the party.
Lord John Prescott is running for that job, and he's dropped a bombshell: the Labour Party is at risk of going broke.
Prescott notes that Labour's 2010 election campaign was funded largely by a single billionaire donor, and that the party's finances have been degraded by a double squeeze on party finances.
One such squeeze is a declining party membership. The other squeeze is spendthrift party leadership.
"The treasurer has got to say to the central body, you cannot keep on spending, we haven't got it," Prescott insisted.
Moreover, Prescott has said that a strong leadership drive will be key to helping the party manage and retire its 20 million Pound debt.
"We want a strong treasurer who's involved in the membership drive, putting a proper financial account into the party," Prescott announced.
Moreover, Prescott noted the Labour party has frequently abandoned the organizational end of the party in favour of the political pursuit of power.
"The politics of organisation are equally as important as the politics of ideas," he added. "We forgot about the organization bit."
Prescott is promising to make badly-needed changes to the manner in which the party is funded and organized.
"You can go on if you like and just have somebody doing what's always been the way," he told the Labour party membership. "Well, we cannot continue to finance a political party in that way."
Nor can the Labour party afford to continue relying on a billionaire to finance their campaigns -- especially if some of its candidates intend to continue to relying on rich-versus-poor class warfare as part of their politics.
The Labour party leadership won't be the only office the Labour Party will need to fill this year.
A far-more-quiet campaign has been ongoing to choose a new Treasurer for the party.
Lord John Prescott is running for that job, and he's dropped a bombshell: the Labour Party is at risk of going broke.
Prescott notes that Labour's 2010 election campaign was funded largely by a single billionaire donor, and that the party's finances have been degraded by a double squeeze on party finances.
One such squeeze is a declining party membership. The other squeeze is spendthrift party leadership.
"The treasurer has got to say to the central body, you cannot keep on spending, we haven't got it," Prescott insisted.
Moreover, Prescott has said that a strong leadership drive will be key to helping the party manage and retire its 20 million Pound debt.
"We want a strong treasurer who's involved in the membership drive, putting a proper financial account into the party," Prescott announced.
Moreover, Prescott noted the Labour party has frequently abandoned the organizational end of the party in favour of the political pursuit of power.
"The politics of organisation are equally as important as the politics of ideas," he added. "We forgot about the organization bit."
Prescott is promising to make badly-needed changes to the manner in which the party is funded and organized.
"You can go on if you like and just have somebody doing what's always been the way," he told the Labour party membership. "Well, we cannot continue to finance a political party in that way."
Nor can the Labour party afford to continue relying on a billionaire to finance their campaigns -- especially if some of its candidates intend to continue to relying on rich-versus-poor class warfare as part of their politics.
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