18
Jun
Labour activist claims national party blocked him standing for MP in Ripon
A long-term Labour activist has accused the national party of blocking his selection as parliamentary candidate for Skipton and Ripon.
Brian McDaid, who finished runner-up to Conservative Julian Smith in 2019, claimed in social media posts the local and regional Labour Party backed his candidature.
But he added the party’s ruling National Executive Committee took issue with a 12-year-old Facebook post in which he described Israel as a “rogue state”.
Mr McDaid said he had quit the party following the “disheartening and unjust” selection process and accused the leadership of riding roughshod over local democracy.
His claims will rock Labour at a time when polls suggest the Skipton and Ripon constituency is a close two-horse race between it and Mr Smith, who has held the seat since 2010.
Skipton town councillor Mr McDaid, who describes himself as a socialist who had been “concerned for some time about the direction in which Keir Starmer and the current leadership are taking the party”, announced in December he intended to seek the party nomination again.
But he added the NEC presented him with his 2012 Facebook post about Israel at a virtual meeting in April.
Mr McDaid discussing the issue on social media.
The party didn’t announce it had chosen Skipton architect Malcolm Birks until May 27 — five days after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called the election.
Mr McDaid said it had been “a horrible process for everyone”, adding:
This delay has been totally unfair to local activists, members and supporters who throughout the process received no communication about what was happening.
He said the short timeframe meant it would be a challenge to run a full campaign in Skipton and Ripon, adding:
Unfortunately, true democracy within our party seems absent when local members are excluded from this selection process for their own candidate.
This issue is not isolated to Skipton and Ripon, it’s happening across the country.
Doug Clark, chair of the Skipton and Ripon constituency Labour Party, said:
Brian McDaid remains a friend of Skipton and Ripon Labour Party, however our focus is on getting our fantastic candidate Malcolm Birks elected to Parliament on July 4.
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