Friday 6 December 2013

Runners, form and a tip for Labour's Brent Central race as it nears finishing line

So very soon Brent Central Labour Party members will be free of the emails, circulars, texts, and knocks on the door from the five hopefuls for the Brent Central parliamentary candidate nomination.

It's quite hard to tip a winner because my sources are all over the place and more keen to say why a particular candidate is unacceptable rather than who will make a great MP.

Even the LRC appears to have decided that none deserved a collective vote of support so individuals are going their own way. In the Green Party RON appears on all ballot forms. RON stands for re-open nominations and is chosen  if you feel none of the candidates are suitable or a wider field is needed. If Ron was standing in the Brent Central Labour ballot I think he may do quite well

Dawn Butler seems to be the Marmite candidate but some have been won over by her skills as a speaker and in debate. Sabina Khan has been working extremely hard, personally lobbying many individual members, but has also attracted quite a lot of background criticism. Parmijit Dhanda although plausible on the surface has a substantial number of detractors based on his record. Zaffar van Kalwala has his fans but apparently did not come over well in the interviews.  Sundar Thava was somewhat undermined by his own decision to put a photograph of himself wielding a machine gun  on his campaign website.

I can claim no inside knowledge but if I was to tip an outsider who may come through the field it would probably be Sundar Thavapalasundaram. He impressed at the Labour Party public meeting on Syria which seemed to allay some of the concerns over his military background and that photograph. His job as an NHS doctor has gained him respect as well as his position on the Fabian Society National Executive.  He appears to be a 'slow burner' who has gained ground over the last few week.

The Fabians are quite influential in Brent and amongst some of the Council Executive. Thava's Operation Black Vote mentor, Sadiq Khan, has also been a presence in Brent since Muhammed Butt's former political adviser, Jack Stenner, a Young Fabian, went to work for him.

No comments: