THE Halesowen News has just been given a leaked email which throws tomorrow's leadership election into doubt and raises serious questions about local democracy.

This is an email from Councillor Pete Hughes who is running the election and has sensationally barred the acting leader of Sandwell Council Councillor Steve Eling from standing in the election.

A senior Labour source said: "This is a coup, and a bad one at that, Cllr Eling wants the Wragge Report published and this is an attempt to stop it."

Below is the email in full:

1.       It has been an established Labour Group procedure that completed, signed Nomination forms should be received by a specified time and date at the Cabinet Secretaries’ Office. There have also been recent examples, over the last couple of years, where the Labour Group Executive rejected nominations for certain positions on the basis that they were received late.

2.       In advance of this year’s AGM, individually named forms were handed/delivered to all Labour Group Members (with reply envelopes addressed for the attention of myself at the Cabinet Secretaries’ Office).

3.       Completed, signed forms were to be received by no later than 12.00noon on Friday 29th April 2016, as agreed with the Acting Leader, Steve Eling a couple of weeks earlier.

4.       I can confirm that, as at 12.00noon on Friday 29th April 2016, I had failed to receive 2 completed and signed forms by the agreed closing date/time.

5.       Under normal Group procedures, I would have reported this to the Labour Group Executive AGM Part 1&2, for the Executive to make a decision on which ‘valid’ nominations were to be recommended to the subsequent Labour Group AGM meeting.

6.       The 2 members who failed to complete and return signed forms by the agreed time and date are Steven Jones and Steve Eling. 

7.       On Tuesday evening this week, and without checking with me first, the Regional Director, Ian Reilly informed all Labour Group members that the Regional Office would be taking postal/proxy votes for the Leader and Deputy positions – and listed Steve Eling as a nominee for both positions.

8.       When information was leaked to the press a couple of weeks ago on the nominations for Leader & Deputy leader, I refused to make any comment, not least because (as far I was concerned) the information was incorrect, and the nominations had not been validly endorsed by the Executive, as is the normal process.

9.       The nominations that were received by the specified time/date, at the Cabinet Secretaries’ Office, duly signed and completed fully, are:

·         Leader – Yvonne Davies & Ian Jones

·         Deputy Leader – Yvonne Davies, Ian Jones, Syeda Khatun

I trust that this helps to clarify the situation. Although you have asked me to send it to all members of the Labour Group, I think it more appropriate, that as the Labour Group Executive are the decision-makers in terms of accepting/validating nominations (as in previous years), I have shared it with those members only.

Best regards

Pete

Cllr Peter Hughes

Sandwell Labour Group Secretary