‘It is important that the Labour Party is really united behind Jeremy Corbyn’

• JOHN Gulliver has laid bare the sharp differences in Holborn & St Pancras Labour Party, (Momentum lacks momentum at the Town Hall, October 26).

Your readers are entitled to an explanation, given that much is now said about the party being united around the manifesto and, with varying degrees of enthusiasm, loyalty to Jeremy Corbyn as leader.

For many years the local leadership, or the old guard as you call them, has been very much in the Blairite tradition, strongly represented in groupings such as Progress.

Yet in 2015 and 2016 local party members voted to nominate Jeremy Corbyn as leader, and if they reflect the national membership, a majority voted for him in the ballots.

Membership of the local party has increased from 1,300 to 4,000 in the past three years. In this time pro-Corbyn members, whether long standing or recent joiners, have begun to find a voice in the party structures.

As you have reported there was already widespread disquiet about the process for choosing candidates for the council elections.

This year nearly all the top positions in the local party were contested. Last year none were. The “old guard” list won every place by a vote of 60 to 48, give or take a vote or two. (And I hasten to admit I was one of the unsuccessful candidates).

The virtual uniformity of the results suggests votes were cast irrespective of the qualities and experience of each candidate. This is not a happy situation.

There is every possibility of a general election in the next year. It is important that the Labour Party is really united behind Jeremy Corbyn as prospective prime minister and the real change he represents.

It will be one of the challenges now for the local leadership to demonstrate it can reflect and encourage the enthusiasm of the local party members for this.

MIKE TAIT
Burghley Road, NW5