A member of a controversial left-wing group loyal to Jeremy Corbyn has been selected to stand for Labour in next year’s council election in Edinburgh.
Bruce Whitehead, who twice stood against Labour in elections last year, won after Momentum Edinburgh flagged up his potential candidacy in a mass email.
Lord Foulkes, a party veteran who has decades of experience in Edinburgh politics, hit out at the development: “Momentum is a party within a party. They are organised and mobilised in the same way as Militant.”
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The peer, who attended the Whitehead selection meeting this month, added: “Sensible people in the party need to wake up to what is going on. I havn’t seen such a well-organised campaign in a long time.”
Momentum, which is is a separate organisation from Labour, evolved out of Corbyn’s leadership victory last year and exists to promotes his agenda.
However, Momentum has also been accused of trying to takeover local Labour parties in England.
The group is active north of the border and has a joint membership structure with the Campaign for Socialism (CfS) in Scotland.
An email by Momentum Edinburgh on November 15th revealed the group has Labour council candidacies in its sights:
“We wanted to draw your attention to the five Momentum Edinburgh members who are seeking nominations to stand as Labour councillors next May.
“Each would like your support in gaining a nomination and votes as they compete for selection in the wards they are targeting. Some are going for a number of wards, in the hope of securing one.
“If you are a Labour member who has lived in any of the wards listed for over six months - and you want to nominate them to support their candidacy - please get in touch with them directly.”
Mr Whitehead, who stood against Labour for the Left Unity party in the 2015 general election, polling 0.2% of the vote, is one of the five names in the email.
He also stood for Left Unity in a council by-election later in the same year and won 0.5% of the first preferences.
In 2012, after George Galloway defeated Labour in a by-election in Bradford, Mr Whitehead wrote: “How refreshing to see the people of Bradford reject anti-union Labour, bullying Tories and cowardly Lib Dems in favour of the anti-war, pro-worker Respect party.”
Despite campaigning against Labour in the past, Mr Whitehead was selected as the party candidate in the Almond ward, winning by one vote.
Mr Whitehead told this newspaper: “I am a member of Campaign for Socialism/Momentum. That is the official name.”
On his previous candidacies, he said: “I wasn’t anti-Labour, I was anti-Labour’s policies. Labour has changed and I havn’t.”
On Mr Corbyn’s Labour, he said: “I think its policies are much more in tune with what the electorate want now. His moves for democratising the party are a very good thing. And they have brought a huge membership into the party who are all working hard now for a Labour victory.”
He added: “It would be great if there was no need for Momentum, but you’ve seen the attempts to unseat the leader. Those seem to be continuing.
“As long as that is happening, the Left is counter-organising.”
Campaigner Peter Gregson, who was also listed as a potential candidate in the email, confirmed his membership of Momentum but declined to comment on his electoral intentions.
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Heather Pugh was another of the five individuals mentioned in the email, but she told the Herald she is not a Momentum member. She has also been selected as a candidate.
The Momentum email was sent to around 220 individuals, which included figures in the far-left Socialist Workers Party and the now-defunct Respect.
Rory Scothorne, who sits on the Executive of Momentum Edinburgh, said the organisation wanted to see Labour fight the next council elections on a socialist platform.
A Scottish Labour spokesman said: "It is for local party members to decide who our candidates will be for next May's council elections. The selection process will be open and transparent.”
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