Labour party candidate under fire for no-shows
MAYORAL HOPEFUL ACCUSED OF BEING ‘PLAIN DISRESPECTFUL’
LABOUR has rejected suggestions that its candidate for West Yorkshire Mayor, Tracy Brabin, has ducked out of multiple hustings over the last nine days.
The party says “packed” diary clashes and campaign commitments mean it is impossible for her to accept every invitation she receives.
That got short shrift from one of her opponents, the Greens’ Andrew Cooper. He said not participating in hustings events was “plain disrespectful” and “not good for democracy”.
Ms Brabin, the MP for Batley and
Spen, has been conspicuous by her absence at four hustings events in the last 10 days.
She missed events organised by British Muslim TV on March 31, Centre for Cities on April 1, Muslim Engagement and Development/ Leeds Grand Mosque on April 6 and Same Skies on April 8.
The latter involved around 60 people from arts and community organisations across West Yorkshire.
A last-minute switch of venue by the British Muslim TV network meant Ms Brabin could not attend in person and offered to do so via Zoom. However whilst she was invited to the Centre for Cities event, Ms Brabin did not confirm her attendance.
Unfortunately, there
has been a small number of invitations she has been unable
to accept
On the evening of April 6 – the date of the Muslim Engagement and Development event – she instead participated in an all-women “phone bank” gathering with Labour activists that included Kirklees councillors Habiban Zaman and Gwen Lowe.
The Labour Party has hit back at criticism of Ms Brabin’s no-shows.
A spokesperson for her campaign said: “Tracy is committed to engaging with as many voters as possible to set out her ambitious plan for leading West Yorkshire out of the pandemic, tackling the deep inequalities it has exposed and making sure local people have someone fighting their corner.
“Tracy has attended hundreds of meetings, events and hustings throughout this campaign and will continue to do so until polling day.
“Unfortunately, there has been a small number of invitations she has been unable to accept due to her packed diary and campaign commitments.”
Mr Cooper, a 30-year campaigner on green issues and Green group leader on Kirklees Council, who has previously stepped forward as a candidate for the deputy leadership of the Green Party nationally, took a dim view of recent no-shows.
He said: “It is part of the role of candidates who stand for election to attend hustings and answer questions from voters.
“The fact that Tracy Brabin, the Labour candidate, has not attended four hustings now is not good for democracy as a whole.
“We must make ourselves available to the electorate to answer our questions. Not appearing at hustings makes people think that their votes are being taken for granted or their views and opinions don’t matter. It is just plain disrespectful.”