closeicon
News

Rhea Wolfson blocked in attempt to win seat on Labour NEC after Ken Livingstone’s suspension

articlemain

Rhea Wolfson’s attempt to replace Ken Livingstone on Labour’s National Executive Committee has been blocked.

Ms Wolfson was the only Jewish candidate standing for election to the NEC.

The vacancy came about after Mr Livingstone was suspended from the party after he claimed Hitler backed Zionism.

A Scottish Labour activist, Ms Wolfson was tipped to replace the former London Mayor and represent the Centre Left Grassroots Alliance, for a place on the party’s governing body.

Her bid was endorsed by Momentum, a hard-left group loyal to Jeremy Corbyn.

However, she was reportedly blocked after Jim Murphy, former leader of the Scottish Labour Party, who called on her Constituency Labour Party to reject her nomination.

According to reports, Mr Murphy attended a meeting at Eastwood CLP, which has a large Jewish community, and urged them not to nominate Ms Wolfson. The meeting took place on Tuesday night.

Without the CLP’s backing, Ms Wolfson cannot stand for the NEC.

In a statement posted on Facebook, Ms Wolfson, former president of Oxford University’s Jewish and Israel societies, and ex-chair of the Zionist Youth Council, confirmed the reports.

Mr Wolfson, who supported Mr Corbyn’s leadership campaign last summer, said that she was asked to leave the room while the CLP discussed her nomination.

She claimed: “Once I had left, the ex-leader of Scottish Labour, Jim Murphy, appealed to the CLP to not nominate me. He argued that it would not be appropriate to nominate me due to my endorsement by Momentum, which he claimed has a problem with antisemitism. The constituency has a large Jewish population. The CLP then voted to not endorse me, before re-inviting me back into the room.”

She added: "It is disappointing because I am the only Jewish candidate in this election, because the wide range of organisations endorsing me includes the Jewish Labour Movement, and because I have a long record of challenging antisemitism and have in fact faced it on a daily basis since my candidacy was announced. But above all, it is disappointing because I know there are many members who want to vote for me, who could now have lost that opportunity."

Share via

Want more from the JC?

To continue reading, we just need a few details...

Want more from
the JC?

To continue reading, we just
need a few details...

Get the best news and views from across the Jewish world Get subscriber-only offers from our partners Subscribe to get access to our e-paper and archive