Ban on senior Wolverhampton councillor's vote in Labour ballot 'is ludicrous'

Party bureaucrats told Wolverhampton council's health boss Councillor Sandra Samuels that she could not take part in the vote to pick a candidate for Blakenhall to contest May's council elections - despite the fact that she has been a ward party member for almost 20 years.

The seat is at the centre of controversy after John Rowley was handed the candidacy after a re-vote on Thursday night - two weeks after he had lost the seat to former Bushbury councillor Jasbinder Dehar.

Councillor Samuels was one of several party members who were banned from taking part in the selection process after regional party pen-pushers said her membership had not been ratified.

She said: "I have been a member of the ward party since 1997 and hold a cabinet position with the council, so how they can question my membership is beyond me.

"Their concerns are ludicrously misplaced. I sent an email to the regional office back in November informing them that I wanted to remain on the membership list for Blakenhall, yet they are asking me to justify my position."

Councillor Rowley was de-selected in the original ballot two weeks ago, but mounted a successful appeal with Labour's West Midlands regional office.

He had complained that 'false and defamatory' information had been circulated to members prior to the vote.

A second ballot was held on Thursday in which he defeated Mrs Dehar by a margin said to be just two votes.

Mrs Dehar said she was considering mounting an appeal of her own after branding the regional party's decision as undemocratic.

Both ballots were overseen by senior regional party members and Wolverhampton's Local Campaign Forum.

Their presence had been deemed necessary due to the controversy over membership that has dogged the ward for the last two years.

In 2015 the group was suspended by the party's regional office amid claims of irregularities over membership.

The group was more than 200 strong at its height but numbers are said to have dwindled to around 60.

A spokesman for the Labour Party's West Midlands regional office, said: "At a properly constituted selection meeting of all verified members in Blakenhall ward John Rowley was selected by a clear majority.

"All members in Blakenhall Ward were given multiple opportunities to verify their membership in order to take part in the selection process by the designated deadline.

"The onus was on individual members to verify their membership. Some members chose not to, or did not meet the deadline, and in consequence were unable to take any part in the procedure including the shortlisting and selection meetings."