Five years on: The future of the left in Brighton and Hove

Greg Hadfield
5 min readJul 9, 2021
Katherine Buckingham, then Labour Party head of disputes, quoted in the #LabourLeaks report (whose contents triggered the Forde Inquiry)
The original lie by Warren Morgan, who quit Labour to join Change UK — and now wants to rejoin the party. Sir Keir Starmer wants people like Morgan to feel welcome in his Labour Party

To mark the fifth anniversary of the events of July 9 2016, join some of the leading protagonists to discuss the future of the left in Brighton and Hove. Speakers to be announced later:

7.30pm on Thursday, July 29, at The Rialto, 11 Dyke Road, Brighton BN1 3FE. Get your tickets now.

The July 9 annual meeting elected overwhelmingly a pro-Corbyn leadership team

On July 9 2016, more than 600 Labour Party members in Brighton and Hove elected overwhelmingly a pro-Corbyn leadership team of the “City Party” — which comprised three Constituency Labour Parties: Brighton Pavilion, Brighton Kemptown, and Hove.

Within days of its annual meeting, the 6,200-member citywide party — the biggest in the Labour Party — was suspended and the election results overturned.

As many of us knew at the time, the suspension was based on lies concocted by anti-Corbyn elements locally conspiring with paid officials in Labour Party headquarters.

With Corbyn gone and right-wing preparing a new offensive against socialists, organisers of The Resist! Event in Brighton (September 26, 27, 28) are hosting a discussion to mark the fifth anniversary of the “spitting” that never happened.

In addition, there will be more information about The Resist! Event, with a chance for you to help shape what promises to be an exciting three-day festival of events during this year’s Labour Party conference.

Join us at The Rialto in Brighton to hear first-hand accounts from some of the July 9 protagonists — and to discuss how we can resist — inside and outside Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party — all those who continue to block a radical transformation of society.

Only 100 places are available on Thursday, July 29. So get your ticket now to be sure you do not miss out.

Postscript

Since April 2016, I have published 232 articles on Medium — attracting more than 500,000 “views” — of which 130,440 resulted from the 20 most-read articles.

For the record, to mark the fifth anniversary of the “spitting” lies on July 9 2016, I am listing — in chronological order — the 20 most-read articles relating specifically to the suspension of the City Party and its aftermath. [For a lengthy continuous narrative, setting the July 9 events in a much wider context, please read this article.]

PRIVATE: The socialists trying to “take over” Brighton, Hove and District Labour Party — according to Warren Morgan (a member of Progress) [Published on July 8 2016]

Download our “Keep Corbyn” rally poster. And show it to anyone you know [Published on July 8 2016]

Full text: The letter suspending Brighton, Hove and District Labour Party [Published on July 15 2016]

Statement by Mark Sandell, elected chair of Brighton, Hove and District Labour Party* [Published on July 15 2016]

Statement by Matt Tully, written on Sunday, July 10, after he made himself known to Councillor Warren Morgan, the leader of the Labour Group on Brighton and Hove City Council who alleged there had been “spitting” and “abusive behaviour” at the annual meeting of Brighton, Hove and District Labour Party [Published on July 17 2016]

Complaint submitted to Iain McNicol, Labour Party general secretary, by Matt Tully on July 15, alleging Councillor Warren Morgan, leader of the Labour Group on Brighton, Hove and District Labour Party has brought the party into disrepute by repeatedly alleging there had been “spitting” and “abusive behaviour” [Published on July 17 2016]

Letter to the Labour Party’s NEC, delivered on Tuesday, July 19 [Published on July 20 2016]

A selection of anonymised quotations from the statements of 78 people — out of about 600 — who attended the annual meeting of Brighton, Hove and District Labour Party on Saturday, July 9. [Published on July 28 2016]

My response to Katherine Buckingham, the Labour Party’s head of disputes and discipline [Published on August 7 2016]

CCTV proof: There was no spitting, shoving, barging, or abusive behaviour at Brighton, Hove and District Labour Party’s annual meeting at City College on July 9 [Published on September 14 2016]

Statement by Mark Sandell, elected chair of Brighton, Hove and District Labour Party* [Published on July 15 2016]

A selection of anonymised quotations from the statements of 78 people — out of about 600 — who attended the annual meeting of Brighton, Hove and District Labour Party on Saturday, July 9. [Published on July 28 2016]

An index of statements and articles — predominantly tweets and photographs — relating to the annual meeting of Brighton, Hove and District Labour Party at City College, Pelham Street, on July 9 [Published on July 17 2016]

Revealed: The anti-Corbyn “moderate” in Brighton and Hove who stands accused of the hate-crime against Seema Chandwani [Published on September 3 2016]

Neil Grant, managing director and executive producer of Films of Record, is responsible for Channel Four Dispatches [Published on September 17 2016]

Response of Mark Sandell, chair-elect of suspended Brighton, Hove and District Labour Party, to Neil Grant, executive producer of Channel Four Dispatches [Published on September 17 2016]

Leaked two-page confabulation by Jack Spooner, paid Labour Party organiser answerable to Councillor Warren Morgan, leader of the Labour Group on Brighton and Hove City Council [Published on September 18 2016]

BBC Panorama and Channel Four Dispatches: The eye of a media storm and the epicentre of the battle for the soul of the Labour Party [Published on September 19 2016]

Statement following expulsion of Mark Sandell and suspension of at least 15 members of Brighton, Hove and District Labour Party [Published on October 19 2016]

The Labour Party purge of socialists continues in Brighton and Hove [Published on October 27 2016]

Leaked: The still-unpublished NEC report into the “spitting” and “abusive behaviour” at the annual meeting of Brighton, Hove and District Labour Party [Published on October 27 2016]

A letter to the secretary of the Labour Party’s National Constitutional Committee [March 31 2017]

How the lies took hold….

In addition, here are some tweets posted on and after July 9:

Selection of tweets: Councillor Warren Morgan

Selection of tweets: Councillor Emma Daniel

Selection of tweets: Councillor Caroline Penn

Selection of tweets: Nicky Easton

Selection of tweets: Sue Teddern

…And how the truth triumphed

Fortunately, there were more than 600 hundred eye-witnesses:

Selection of tweets: Many eyewitnesses took to Twitter on Sunday — and in the subsequent days — to give their view of the AGM and the “spitting” and “abusive behaviour”

Selection of tweets: Matt Tully, the young man falsely accused of “spitting”

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Greg Hadfield

Husband, father, grandfather. Writer, classicist. Originally Barnsley, usually Brighton, often Greece. Marathon runner.