Gateshead

Spent two days last week in Gateshead on behalf of the NEC trying to sort out a dispute involving Local Government Selections and All Women Shortlists.

Won't go into the details as the NEC need to consider the issue in detail. My only comment is that its sad when we get ourselves in a position where we are bitterly fighting each other, rather than our political opponents.

Given our financial difficulties we are going to have to manage more of the constitutional staff ourselves as party members. It's neither fair nor realistic to expect the Party staff to resolve every issue and we're just going to have to change the way we work in the future.