The Labour Party has deselected one of its longest-serving Brighton councillors at a meeting in Moulsecoomb this evening (Monday 23 July).
Councillor Anne Meadows will not be on the ballot paper at the local elections in May next year after 25 years on Brighton and Hove City Council and the old Brighton Borough Council.
She chairs the council’s Housing and New Homes Committee as it embarks on the biggest programme of council house building in generations.
But the 61-year-old Moulsecoomb and Bevendean councillor, who was born and raised in her ward, was not on the so-called Momentum slate as her local branch completed its selection process tonight.
The three candidates for next May include 45-year-old council leader Daniel Yates, who learnt that he been reselected a fortnight ago.
This evening the branch voted for two women – Kate Knight and Amanda Scales – to join Councillor Yates.
Momentum, the campaign group to support Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, gave its backing to Kate Knight.
Amanda Scales has been described by colleagues as a Corbyn supporter but is not believed to have accepted Momentum’s endorsement.
Councillor Meadows criticised the “protest politics” of Momentum and said: “I believe the Labour administration have been doing very well building new homes and dealing with this Conservative government’s cuts so as to lessen the impact on residents in the city.
“However, it a shame that Momentum is a protest organisation as I fear the residents will take a back seat in the 2019 elections.
“Momentum are operating within the Labour Party but have no real loyalty to the party and as you know I have suffered intimidation and abuse so they can deselect me and control the ward and the party.”
Amanda Scales said: “I’m humbled and privileged to have the opportunity to stand as a potential councillor for such a fantastic ward – Moulsecoomb and Bevendean.
“Thank you for having faith in me. I will not let you down.
“I’m so happy to have the opportunity to take up the fight for the many not the few with Jeremy Corbyn as Prime Minister.”
The other serving Labour councillor in the ward, former mayor Mo Marsh, 71, retires next May.
Last week Labour councillor Adrian Morris was deselected in Queen’s Park ward.
Experience counts for nothing if you don’t bow down to the cult.
So it’s saddening to see the loss of Anne Meadows.
I don’t know much about Amanda Scales, but Kate Knight is someone I would advise every single person in the ward not to vote for.
I endorse AL’s view.
Sad to see Anne lose to a so-called “socialist” such as Hove Park resident Kate “two properties” Knight.
What can you say about Amanda Scales not much she had to ask for directions to moulsecoomb that says it all
Utter tosh! Amanda-Jane was a door knocking canvasser for Lloyd’s campaign last year…..in this area! Puleeeze!
Yes, she was, I was massively impressed with her, we talked for ages and that’s why I voted for her. Anne never once replied to my emails, sent to all 3 councillors, in the 9 years I’ve lived here.
I find it “perfectly acceptable” that Anne Meadows has been deselected, ain’t karma a bitch! Always comes back to bite you doesn’t it serves you right for all the people you have constantly treated with utter contempt so “perfectly acceptable” I feel don’t you Anne Meadows???
Ding dong.
Lol, Anthony. Kate Knight lives in a huge house in Hove Park so she’ll be fully able to empathise with local residents. Won’t mention the time she insulted a long-standing disabled member of the Labour Party at a Momentum meeting.
Funny because all we see is bashing here. Clearly there is distress in the Meadows Household tonight. These smears and lies about show exactly why the people did the right thing. After all I was born on Birdham Road and remember the area well. In the years she has been a councillor look at the stare of Bevendean. Too little too late.
The candidate statement contained so many lies. Amanda Scales has been engaging and non factional. I will tell you about momentum, as a member I have probably attended and done more in the community in three years than Anne ever did.
Behaviour Breeds Behavious. This is social justice and democracy. Well done to Kate Knight as well, another committed and Corbyn loyal councillor. Bye Bye to the days of Blairism, hello to truely taking back the working class vote.
You watch the turnouts change now we have committed people taking over.
Bitterittes indeed.
Brighton and Hove News. I honestly think you need to engage with some of these new selected candidate , and be more balanced on Momentum, after all you are independant.
Completely 100% behind Kate and Amanda. I know Kate well and she is a fantastic woman who has dedicated her life to supporting people through difficult times. I’m very sure she is going to be a fantastic councillor who will take the duty seriously and fully engage and listen to the community – as it should be.
Hopefully Anne Meadows will stand as an “Independent” and garnish enough votes to stick two fingers up at Corbyn’s Momentum Marxists and all their sad trollers!
What an unbelievably bad piece of ‘journalism.’ A joke. (I worked as one for twenty years including Fleet St so I know a badly put together speculative unattributed story when I see one. Where are the quotes from the newly selected candidates? If you were actual journalists you’d have gone along and covered the meeting, as Private Eye says, ‘pisspoor’. And, as usual, comments from people who prefer sniping and infighting to the task of governance. I am a newish party member and I went along, listened to the six ‘pitches’ and decided who I thought would do the most good locally. This was nothing to do with ‘deselection’, unfortunately some factions are bad losers, we need new faces for new challenges.
Oh yes and stop saying ‘deselected’. This was a free vote from a large group of non office holding Labour Party members. If a lot of us are are all sick of Blairites that’s our democratic right, don’t publish rubbish about ‘de-selection’ and anti Corbyn propaganda and call yourself a ‘news’ source, please.
Anthony ….would you be Anne Meadows son?
Say hi to the ex branch secretary of Moulsecoomb and Bevendean …am certain my name would have come up as a moan at some point or another. Am a bit lost to your names though as not once have I ever seen your names at a branch meeting or any branch event but yet here you both are smearing two very good comrades who vastly outperformed Anne Meadows when it really mattered.
So, let’s talk about this ‘outstanding’ now deselected councillor that you are so happy to ‘big up’ ….firstly, Anne Meadows was the number one complaint of residents in this ward. Residents felt that not only did she not care but also that they could not trust her. Only recently I had a resident come to me for help after Anne Meadows gave him a dead end solution to problem that had been making his life hell for over a year. No resident that I have spoken with has ever spoken highly of Anne Meadows and you think we should have voted her back in ….if we had we would have lost the residents as they would not have voted for her.
If you want to talk about insulting disabled people, well I witnessed first hand how Anne Meadows treats disabled people ….know the name Bobby Carver? Next question do you really want me to publicly write what took place in that meeting and the disgusting way in which Bobby was spoken to and treated?
As to how Anne performed on the night. Less aggression would have been a good start and perhaps not being made to feel like Anne thought the branch owed her their votes just because she has managed to stay in power for such a long time ….and during a time where grassroots membership within Labour was being destroyed thus allowing people like herself to take a role she should never have had and wouldn’t have had if only there had been greater member participation, which we now have, which was why she wasn’t voted back in ….funny that.
As to the two brilliant candidates that the membership majority voted for. Kate grew up in a council estate herself and managed to overcome life difficulties and make a good solid base for herself. She knows both sides of the table which is far more than what either of you know. As for Amanda, again another brilliant candidate who also has overcome all that life could throw at her and who will be an inspiration to many women within our ward. Both of them came across as incredibly strong candidates with both their speeches and answering of questions, they did vastly better than Anne Meadows, that much was majority agreed.
Yes both of these candidates are new to this role but so was Anne at one time. The difference with these newest councillors is that they can help rebuild many of the bridges that Anne Meadows burnt with the residents, they can help build trust, they want engagement with both residents and members and already I am in talks with both of them about how we can help strengthen the link between members and councillors. Not even 24 hrs since being elected by the membership and already both are way ahead of what Anne Meadows has done since I joined the Party with regards to membership. We needed life breathed into this ward and these two new councillors will do just that and with the help of Daniel Yates who the membership majority voted for automatically reselection.
As for you two, Anthony and Jenny ….what inspiration will you create? Or are you only able to smear two people you know nothing about and snipe because Anne was rejected by the Moulsecoomb and Bevendean branch of the Labour Party by a majority vote?
Also, why are you sniping ….isn’t Anne also listed in other wards as being a candidate? Pretty certain I heard Patcham being mentioned. To which if there are any Patcham members reading this and if Anne is standing in your area ….Moulsecoomb and Bevendean voted her out for a reason.
This is all typically childish behaviour from a certain faction that likes to sulk and sling mud when they don’t get their own way (as we’ve seen at a national level) – they instantly lash out and try to harm the party. The fact is that being a councillor is not a guaranteed job for life and if you have been doing it for 25 years and don’t hold the confidence of the BLP then it’s your own failing. Daniel is not Momentum and neither is Amanda. In fact, Momentum suggested another candidate instead of Amanda (who lives only one ward over btw). This is all just being a sore loser in a fair process. How pathetic. Nice to see exposed just what has been removed.
Congratulations Amanda & Kate….. and of course, our Daniel! I’m over the moon for you all!
It’s high time we had fresh ‘brooms’ to sweep our Moulsecoomb & Bevendean Ward!
Having been born & raised in Lower Bevendean, I returned to live in Higher Bevendean in 1992…..Anne Meadows has been the Labour option through all those years, and, being Labour, I’ve voted for her every time, of course!. However, M & B is in desperate need of fresh blood……new, dynamic, enthusiastic people…..to work for us & alongside us……to power us forward ……we’ll soon have a truly LABOUR Government in power…….. What’s the term ‘every dog has his day?’ (No disrespect intended there), time for fresh ‘dogs’…..and I’m wholeheartedly proud to support them!
The people of Moulscombe & Bevendean will get the councillors they vote for & hopefully common sense will prevail & the 3 Momentum Corbynists will not get elected. Regrettably 3 red paper bags could stand in this Ward & would get elected ……..
Hopefully some actual factual accuracy about the 3 candidates will “prevail” for you when you’ve read the report properly……
Steve I think you may have misunderstood what has actually taken place, which isn’t hard going seeing as this article is rather shoddy reporting.
Firstly, you do realise that Corbyn is the democratically elected leader of the Labour Party and the MAJORITY of those within Labour actually do support him, not everyone who supports Corbyn is in Momentum.
Secondly, yes there was a Momentum slate, just like there was a Progress slate. The only difference is that Momentum was very open with who they were supporting. One could argue that there was even a Lloyd slate (you know our MP) who openly supported two of the candidates who stood last night, one of them being Amanda.
Our branch did not select three Momentum candidates, we selected the best three LABOUR candidates, one of them is Daniel Yates, you should know him seeing as he is currently our councillor and the Labour Group Leader, and the other two as mentioned in this article. The only person who had Momentum backing was Kate, but we members did not select her because of her Momentum status, we selected her as she was an extremely strong candidate in both speech and answers to questions set by branch.
I’m hoping the residents of M+B will do the same as what the Labour Party members did when choosing who to select for councillor elections, which is judge the person in person, after having spoken with them. Perhaps then the residents will see what us members saw which is two very strong independent Labour women who care about the community and helping rebuild the community in this ward.
You Momentum lot are really dumb. Greg Hadfield said you must vote for Tim Wilkinson you lot couldnt even get that right. He was in the car park on his knees crying his eyes out!
I was at the meeting last night, and went in wanting to vote for Anne or not really anyone attached to Momentum, i’m not a member or believer of Momentum. Annes attitude and demeanor completely turned me off her. She didn’t really answer the questions and those that she did, she hadn’t put any thought or feeling in them. Ive never seen anyone look so bored, i don’t know if she knew she was going to lose, or as Sarah said (above) she felt she was owed it. The two best people there last night won by far. I loom forward to seeing what they can do in our area
So…..3 candidates – one of whom is a sitting councillor and current Council Leader, and only one who is an actual Momentum supporter. Seems a fairly balanced ticket to me.
Thanks Col for your honesty.
Amanda was not on the Momentum slate, so any claims that those who voted for her last night are Momentum puppets are clearly lies.
I have only known her about a year, but she has impressed me hugely. She has a really tough life but always remains cheerful and supportive of others. She is a practical problem solver rather than an ideologue.
I congratulate her through gritted teeth because I wanted her to stand in Woodingdean. Sadly she wanted to stand in a poorer ward where she felt her life experience could be put to better use.
Two properties kate from hove actually is really going to represent the working class in moulsecoomb and bevendean
It is a shame that this result is being made out to be Momentum related as in my opinion, last night’s events were purely local.
Anne has represented our branch for a long time and has achieved a great deal for which we owe her our thanks.
In recent years however, she has become unpopular with members and residents. There is a feeling that her performance has been poor, especially relating to her role as Chair of the Housing committee.
Yes there was a Momentum slate but I think it should be quite clear that our branch made their own decisions regardless.
-Momentum (as well as the Constituency Party) suggested that the branch put ALL sitting councillors up for selection.
-Momentum endorsed voting for Kate Knight and Tim Wilkinson.
-MP Lloyd Russel-Moyle endorsed voting for Amanda Jane Scales and Ranato Marques.
-Progress endorsed voting for Anne Meadows.
The actual results were that the branch resoundingly chose to automatically reselect Councillor Dan Yates and not to automatically reselect Anne Meadows. The branch then chose two candidates to join Dan, one backed by Momentum and the other not.
With respect to all of the other candidates, Kate and Amanda were far and away the ones who presented themselves the best on the night, demonstrating experience, knowledge and passion.
Should they be elected then they will be our Labour ward councillors, not Momentum or anything else and the local members shall hold them to account.
I don’t know how many branch members are in Progress or Momentum but it is clear that neither control our branch.
Anne Meadows – run as an independent. There are lots of people who will support you – votes and on the streets canvasing
excellent news. This is the same Anne Meadows who, a decade or so ago, supported the privatisation of council housing, which they misleadingly called transferring homes to Arms Length Management Organisations. A vigorous campaign in which I was proud to take part, along with veteran councillors for Moulsecoomb Francis Tonks and Jack Hazlehurst resulted in nearly 2/3 of Council tenants rejecting New Labour’s privatisation.
For those who think this is esoteric or irrelevant they should bear in mind that one of the key factors behind the Grenfell fire was an ALMO which refused all protests by tenants that the block was unsafe and even threatened to bring legal action against those who persisted. It put profit and their perks above safety.
For this alone Anne Meadows should go. I know Kate and she will make an excellent councillor as, I am sure, will Amanda.
greenstein get it right you know nothing about politics the privatisation of council housing was done under Mary mears and the tory council.
And as for francis tonks another rich socialist living in a big house in the middle of town. What about Amanda another outsider knows nothing about about the town thinking she can have a council house if she becomes councillor and Kate i will give you some advice don’t tell moulsecoomb people that you live in hove with the elite rich it won’t go down well.
You’re the one who needs to get it right. The stock transfer proposal was made and driven by a Labour administration. It directly led to them losing control of the Council and, incredibly, the election of Tory councillors in Moulsecoomb!