The Campaign Improvement Board (CIB) the external body that is carrying out the selection of Labour Party candidates for the 2026 Brent Council elections will soon be choosing successful applicants from a shortlist to stand in the Brent Council election in May 2026, probably helped by the London Region of the Labour Party.
Decisions on placements - which candidates for which wards - take place after panel interviews that judge whether the candidate is a 'good Labour person' . The panels are made up of Labour members and councillors from outside Brent and they submit the shortlist for decision by the CIB.
Candidates have been left hanging, not knowing if they have been selected and if selected, the ward they have been allocated. Whatever the individual outcomes the end result is likely to be controversial.
There is still uncertainty over why Brent was selected by the Labour Region for the imposition of external selection. Among the possible issues cited have been an allegation that a candidate paid for friends and families to join the Labour Party in order to vote for him last time round (he wasn't selected), dissatisfaction with the Buttocracy and Cllr Muhammed Butt's longevity as leader, and the Nablus Twinning (a suggestion pushed by Lee Harpin of Jewish News).
There is also speculation over whether any rejected candidates will decide to stand as Independents or join an opposition party.
Of course the most important aspect is what the electorate will make of all this - or will they even notice?
Watch this space.
49 comments:
It will be interesting to see how many of the "old guard" remain, and whether there is any left/right, racial or religious bias in the choices the CIB makes!
Brent Labour are delivering for the people of Brent. Cllr Butt is a great leader.
What a load of ............
We’ll certainly see if the corruption has been wiped out by externals
Among the possible issues cited have been an allegation that a candidate paid for friends and families to join the Labour Party in order to vote for him last time round - rumours that at least one has done that on this occasion but this process has wiped out their efforts!
As a Brent resident, it is good to see there is some objective scrutiny and I hope this exercise by the CIB will meaningful change the next elections. We need councillors who will actually hold this council to account, and it has reached a point where we desperately need councillors who will create meaningful change.
Our roads are crumbling, our high streets are not getting much investment along with our parks, and it always appears that the council sticks up for developers more than its own residents!
There appears to be a last ditch attempt to throw some SCIL cash at roads, pavements and parks but I think it really is too late. Do they really think removing some tree stumps is going to make a difference? The comms team really have to give it themselves! Lighting “upgrades” appear to be just replacement of failing posts - that is not an “upgrade” that is called maintenance!
It's not April Fools Day!
We heard that Labour were paying voters £5 to vote for them in local elections on Neasden or Harlesden.
Going through the process at the moment i can tell you the process is just as corrupt and butt is still trying to influence it,just a different form of corrupt.
To the Anonymous commenter who had heard XXXXXX were paying voters £5 to vote for them in local elections in Neasden or Harlesden, submit evidence to wembleymatters@virginmedia.com Thanks.
Change is needed throughout
We were told this by an ex Labour councillor when residents contacted them about issues at another polling station.
If there are allegation that a candidate paid for friends and families to join the Labour Party in order to vote for him, can we not name them?
It has been said before on this website that Brent Council's Comms Team only puts out positive stories, often featuring good news statements supposedly made by, and photos of, Cabinet members.
And the Cabinet's Lead Member for Communications is ... Cllr. Muhammed Butt!
The Labour Party is a really nasty place to be at the moment. Members can't stand up for what is right anymore as the right wing have their iron grip on the party at all levels. Therefore, most members are afraid of them and their blocking tools, as can be seen by what happened to poor Kath Jackson, who has probably done nothing wrong other than annoy fellow councillors. This tactic is probably being employed against against unknown others right now, in order to stop them being selected.
Word has it that Your Party has over 800,000 interested people registered
Get rid of the Brent Council Comms Team and Brent Magazine and spend the money repairing pavements!!!
"Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely."
Worried about keeping her seat at the next general election?...
https://www.kilburntimes.co.uk/news/25398406.brent-east-mp-dawn-butler-confirms-bid-london-mayor/
It might not be direct £5 notes but generous hospitality at places that some Labour Councillors are connected with.
A few people have told us about the hospitality and other incentives being given by an elected Brent representative. From all accounts, it has finally paid dividends.
Hi all commenters re alleged corruption. For this to have any weight we need cast iron evidence rather than hearsay. There have been allegations over the years this blog has been running but nothing we could prove beyond doubt. Sources need to be named, if only in a private email to wembleymatters@virginmedia.com Thank you.
Labour Party membership falls by almost 200,000 in five years
https://www.kilburntimes.co.uk/news/national/25407414.labour-party-membership-falls-almost-200-000-five-years/
Who’s kath jackson? Do you mean Cllr Katherine Fraser, deputy mayor who we haven’t been given an update about. Maybe the editor will investigate
Having lived in Brent since 1962 I can’t remember ever having a council that’s been good for the borough. The Tories, Lib Dems & Labour, they’ve all been unfit to run this borough. And I’ve seen many of them close up & witnessed the shenanigans in the council chamber.
The famous Gwen Tookey (Tory) incident will never leave my memory when she and an Indian Labour councillor were battling to hang the Queens picture in the chamber, Tookey stood on the chair and whacked the guy with her handbag, while they were tussling with the frame.
My fear of Labour imposing councillors is that they will be Starmer’s allies & support a certain state committing genocide.
So maybe the devil you know is better than the one you don’t!
Cllr Butt is an incredible leader. THIS LABOUR CLLR supports him!!!
Are you really a Labour councillor? Is supporting your own leader so shameful that you need to hide behind the veil of anonymity?
More fool you.
I wonder who you mean?
Very droll!
God knows how much more damage they will inflict if they get in for another 5 years
What’s to damage? Not convinced they do anything or even vote on anything of note freely. The whole council is just theatre
It is so easy for the people on this site to bitch and complain all the time and make baseless accusations about people who make the effort to put themselves forward and serve as Councillors.
Most have no idea how Councils are run or the financial pressures that exist. All they do is demand "give me, give me" without being willing to pay.
If you think you can do better and are willing to serve others (and NOT just yourself) then stop winging and put your name forward to stand for the Council in May 2026. Just be aware to be an effective Councillor you have to work hard and put up with countless people who will always complain and think they know best and who will run away as soon as you ask them to actually lift a finger and help others.
Too true
Ah, you've worked it out. Councillors are generally pointless
clearly written as self.promo.. the state of the borough is atrocious the only way you do anything is by people sueing
Alternatively do better for the public. The British people are fair and recognise hard work. They also recognise when people are swinging the lead, like all of you in Brent.
“You don’t understand all we do”
Says Anon at 16:16
- what?
You outsource everything
Why do these councillors and wannabes think they are so ....... special and anointed be make decisions on our behalf just because their party apparatus selects them and the prevailing wind picks which party wins. Let's face it, the public elect these appointees who have little skill or vision because they have no choice. The turnouts at local elections says it all. The system is crap.
OMG THAT IS SO TRUE! Everything is outsourced!!! If anything goes wrong - oh it’s the contractor. So accountability is zero. Half the contractors like Veolia are not even doing a good job and the residents of Brent continue to pay.
It should be mandatory that you live in the borough, in order to be a local councillor, not shipped in from outside with no knowledge of the area and its issues. This is why some Councillors never respond to emails or are seen apart from once a month at surgeries as they don't really care, and are just there to further their own political aspirations.
Hold this in mind when you vote next and tell your neighbours
One of our local councillors is apparently living and working in either USA or Dubai 😡
Who
I thought it was a condition for being a councillor that you had to live in the borough.
If a councillor has moved away, whether it is to somewhere in this country, or to the USA or Dubai, they or their Party should notify the Chief Executive and a by-election should be called.
I'm sure I remember scandals over this sort of thing in Brent in the past.
Having known Mohammed Butt since 2006, I have no animus towards him. However, the Labour group has become far too Butt family dominated. Alas, it’s no longer up to the job of questioning and critiquing the Executive. There are those with the intellect and experience to ask the difficult questions but who appear to have forgotten what their role is, which is to represent their voters rather than represent the Labour Party to their voters.
“Treating” is an electoral offence. Should you have evidence of this, you should be providing/have provided this to the Met Police.
A cursory knowledge of UK electoral law: to be a local cllr you must be a UK, Irish, Commonwealth or pre-Brexshit EU national aged 18+. Then you either need to reside in, have a property in or work in the particular local authority area in which you’re a candidate.
For all of those whose sole cobtribu
Name who it is - then let the paper or this site name and shame them. There was a local councillor who secretly moved to brighton a while back and a local went and knocked on their door
That is true. It seems that the clienting for these contracts eg. With Veolia is poorly done by Brent Officers. If there is a complaint, officers always just come back with an excuse from Veolia.
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