Why I describe the current Labour Party as a busted flush

Sean Morgan

Until last Thursday I had been the Leader of Caerphilly County Borough Council for three years and had been a member of the Labour Party for over 40 years.

After a difficult year watching Keir Starmer’s leadership of UK Labour doing none of the things he had promised and all the things he never mentioned, I have been struggling with my support for Labour.

The winter fuel allowance, the two child benefit cap, support for WASPI women and so many more promises forgotten. Further betrayal comes with the UK flying RAF reconnaissance over Gaza on behalf of the Israeli government, while allowing arms sales to this genocidal regime.

It’s becoming very clear that this was not what I, or many other grassroots members, had signed up for.

Hustings meeting

Then, just last week, at a hustings meeting to elect a new Senedd Member to represent Caerphilly, following the tragic death of the popular and wonderful Hefin David, I saw first hand the control tactics of Welsh Labour, while they undemocratically steamrollered their pre-selected candidate, Richard Tunnicliffe, into position. Again, not something I, or many other grassroots members had signed up for.

Cllr Jamie Pritchard, a long-standing Labour activist, was a clear favourite amongst members for the role. Jamie had turned a solid three member Plaid ward into a solid three member Labour ward.

He had risen to Deputy Leader in the council and had knocked doors and campaigned for years for other councillors, for Senedd Members and for Wayne David who had been the Labour MP for 23 years.

Jamie was an obvious and popular choice amongst local members. But on the eve of the hustings, just 14 hours before it was due to begin, Jamie received a phone call from Welsh Labour saying he was not allowed on the ballot at the hustings, having not got through the Welsh Executive Committee’s sift.

The dossier they had collected on him included such terrible things as having tweeted his support for Jeremy Corbyn, at a time when Corbyn was leader. Surely, this shouldn’t be a mark against him.

Joe Lock

It is important to note at this point that Joe Lock, General Secretary of Welsh Labour, has been reprimanded by Welsh Labour for historic homophobic posts, abusive and vulgar statements about other parties, posting links to a website called “Is Thatcher dead yet?”, and making comments such as “Joe likes throwing eggs at David Cameron, brick-shaped eggs – made from brick.” This begs the question, who on earth thought that Joe Lock could be Labour’s General Secretary in Wales and an arbiter of who, and who is not, suitable to stand as a candidate?

At the Saturday morning hustings meeting, it became apparent that Labour Party rules were not being followed. Chris Carter, a man who had already gained the right to be on the ballot in the nearby Newport/Islwyn hustings, was also found on the Caerphilly ballot.

Party rules say you cannot be a potential candidate in two constituencies.

When I challenged this with Joe Lock, he told me and all the members present including Wayne David, this particular rule had been suspended in this case by the Welsh Executive Committee. Party rules were clearly being implemented on an as-and-when basis. Many members spoke up about this clear and unacceptable breach of rules, though it is important to note that Wayne David remained silent and accepting of this last minute rule change.

Hustings

At a hustings being administered outside of party rules, with only candidates who had passed the obscured and ambiguous sift that disallowed the grassroots members’ favourite, Jamie Pritchard, overseen by a General Secretary with a history that should deny him the role of arbiter, a complete unknown candidate called Richard Tunnicliffe whom I had never previously seen at any Labour events was elected to represent Caerphilly in the upcoming by-election.

On the following Monday, the First Minister Eluned Morgan arrived at my office along with Wayne David and Richard Tunnicliffe, to convince me that I had to back the unfairly elected Richard, as this was the only hope of getting a Labour budget through the Senedd. When First Minister Eluned Morgan started using coercive language such as “Your council budget could be 25% lower”, it really began to feel as though Sir Wayne David, Baroness Eluned Morgan and Baron Tunnicliffe’s son, Richard Tunnicliffe, were part of an elite who like to impose their will on ordinary members. This was the final straw: this was no longer the party I joined decades earlier.

Corrupted

We now have a corrupted and controlling Welsh Labour that is indifferent to the views of grassroots members, along with a UK Labour government that I believe is complicit in genocide and showing authoritarian overreach by arresting people who make their anti-genocidal views known using placards.

The Labour Party is filled with genuine, peace-loving members who seek to represent ordinary people through social justice, equality, education for all, a fair welfare state and functioning NHS. It’s so difficult to leave an organisation filled with so many wonderful people. But the controlling elite of the party have turned it into a corrupt, centralised organisation that is arming a genocidal regime.

It’s not so much that I’m leaving the Labour Party; it is more the Labour Party has left me.

The Labour Party in Britain is clearly a busted flush.

Sean Morgan was the Leader of Caerphilly County Borough Council 2022-25. He now sits as an Independent councillor.