Labour members react angrily to expulsion over shortlist row
Labour activists who supported independent MP Peter Law, at the recent general election, have received expulsion notices from the party.
Mr Law, who left Labour after a row over all-women shortlists in the Blaenau Gwent constituency, stood for election as an independent and won the seat in the May 5 poll.
His candidacy was supported by 20 party members in the South Wales seat, who have now been expelled from the party for backing Mr Law against the official Labour candidate, Maggie Jones.
Some activists have been expelled for signing Mr Law’s nomination papers.
But one member, Elena Evans, 44 claimed her membership had been revoked because she had written a letter to a local newspaper and warned Labour was “setting a dangerous precedent” by expelling her.
Mrs Evans, who does not live in the Blaenau Gwent constituency said: “This is the first communication I’ve had from the Labour Party. In this country you are innocent until proven guilty, the Labour party obviously thinks the other way.”
Speaking of her intention to appeal against the decision, Mrs Evans, a Labour member for 20 years, added: “It’s not about me wanting to stay in the Labour Party. This is about freedom of speech.”
The expelled members have 14 days in which to appeal against the decision.
Mr Laws now sits as an independent in the House of Commons and the Welsh Assembly, where he formerly served as a Labour representative. The row has left his former party without a majority in the devolved assembly.
