Labour’s winning election team in 2018

CAMDEN’S Labour Party has sent out an appeal for more members to stand for election – just weeks after blocking six councillors from running again.

Organisers have been selecting the candidates for May’s boroughwide ballot on a night by night basis with nearly all of the “safe” seats filled.

But despite having more than 4,000 members across Camden, the party has not got enough approved names to fill a full slate of 55.

The four main parties see it as a matter of pride and competence to be able to draw together enough candidates to tackle every ward.

But this week, Labour’s Local Campaign Forum (LCF) told all members that more interest was needed.

“The process of shortlisting and selecting candidates is proceeding well but we will require some more people to come forward to ensure that we can field a full slate of candidates in every ward, including the few where we historically are less competitive,” the message circulated this week said.

The party, which has a giant majority in the council chamber and remains the favourite to dominate the polls in Camden, has already selected candidates in what might be considered its strongest wards.

New faces confirmed include Shah Miah and Edmund Frondigoun in Somers Town and St Pancras – where councillors Paul Tomlinson, who had criticised the building of a tower of private flats on green space, and Roger Robinson have been stopped from standing again.

While six in total were actively blocked from the process, several more who might have faced similar hurdles have stepped down voluntarily.

These included Labour councillors who signed a call-in requesting more scrutiny of a land deal in Camley Street, King’s Cross.

There was speculation this week that community figures not attached to any political parties may register a new group to stand candidates in some wards at the elections.

Labour’s LCF confirmed in its message that people who had already been through the process would not be able to have another try.

It said potential Labour candidates need to have been living in Camden for a year ­– although this has not always been the requirement for actual councillors over the course of the last administration.

“We will be considering applications on a rolling basis, but are hoping to select remaining candidates in every ward by the end of the month,” the message added.

The issue came up at a shortlisting meeting in the Haverstock ward this week when some members made clear that they had concerns about how the barred councillors had been blocked from standing again.

The party needed a minimum of three names for its shortlist for the ward but could only draw together two.

Mike Katz, the chair of the LCF, said of the deselection controversy: “Our job is to bring together a diverse panel of candidates who meet the high standards that both we and voters expect of elected councillors.

“We have followed a process set down in the Labour Party rule book to do this, which includes an interview chaired by an experienced members from outside Camden.”

The Labour List news website reported this week that the party was struggling to get the process finalised in several London boroughs.