Labour activist Rhea Wolfson to stand again for party’s NEC
Momentum-backed activist is 'convinced' that she can win after switching her membership to a new local party
Patrick Maguire is a reporter at the Jewish News.
Labour activist Rhea Wolfson has revived her campaign for membership of the party’s National Executive Committee.
Wolfson, the sole Jewish candidate in the running to replace former London Mayor Ken Livingstone on Labour’s governing body, will seek the nomination of a new constituency party after failing to win the support of members in Eastwood, Glasgow.
The former Oxford University Jewish Society chair missed out on the Constituency Labour Party’s nomination after ex-Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy spoke out against her candidacy.
She alleged that Murphy “argued that it would not be appropriate to nominate me due to my endorsement by Momentum, which he claimed has a problem with anti-Semitism”.
Wolfson herself was a victim of anti-Semitic abuse from online trolls after she announced her candidacy.
Her lack of an endorsement from her home CLP appeared to have put a premature end to her campaign – but the young left-winger now says she is “convinced” of her chances of success.
In a Facebook message posted to her official campaign page, she wrote: “Last week, I was unsuccessful in securing a nomination from Eastwood, the CLP I grew up in.
“Since then, I have been overwhelmed by the support I have received from members up and down the UK. This has confirmed for me the reasons why I first wanted to stand: to promote a positive and credible democratic socialist agenda, and to empower members to fight for a more democratic party that can deliver change.
“I have transferred my membership to my other address and will seek nomination from my home CLP. If successful, I will be an officially nominated candidate for Labour’s National Executive Committee.”
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