By a Hackney North & Stoke Newington CLP Member

Turmoil has rocked the Labour Party in one of its safest London enclaves in recent weeks with a key figure on the Party’s right narrowly avoiding jail, a high-profile mayor suspended from the Party and London regional officials swooping down to take de facto control of a constituency party.

The immediate trigger to these events came in the late afternoon of 30th June with press reports confirming that Tom Dewey, who had been a Labour councillor in the borough for all of ten days, faced several charges of possession of indecent images of children including 78 identified as “Category A” material, which features bestiality and/or extreme sadism. Less than three weeks later Dewey would plead guilty in Uxbridge Magistrates Court to five counts relating to over 1,800 images found across five devices.

The revelations about Dewey came more than 13 months after his shocking resignation from the De Beauvoir ward seat he had won on 5th May 2022, six days after a morning raid by the National Crime Agency on the house he then shared with Hackney’s directly elected executive mayor, Phil Glanville. After his 16th May resignation, the official Party line was constant: Mr Dewey had stood down for personal reasons. Party officials insisted on this position and repeatedly refused to answer questions about Dewey’s departure at meetings of the Local Campaign Forum as De Beauvoir voters went to the polls for the second time in two months on 7th July 2022. In the event, Labour narrowly retained the seat by just 27 votes over the Green Party candidate.

Rising Star Crashes and Burns

While rumours surfaced last summer on Twitter about the background to Dewey’s departure, fuelled by his sudden disappearance from social media platforms and his former employer’s website, Labour politicians and senior officers maintained their silence. As a result, most ordinary members had all but forgotten the resignation and the sudden by-election until the start of July. An instruction soon went out to branch officers to block any discussion of the case at that month’s meetings.

Tom Dewey was no ordinary backbencher. Both ambitious and capable, he was well connected on the Party’s right and looked set for a swift ascent. The then 35-year-old had worked as a Party employee in Croydon for several months in 2014 before departing without explanation. He arrived in Hackney soon after and rapidly climbed the ranks, serving briefly as Hackney South & Shoreditch secretary before Corbyn supporters gained a foothold, and later acting as Dame Meg Hillier’s agent at the 2019 General Election. At the time of his arrest, Dewey worked for KANDA Consulting, a firm set up by ex-Hackney councillor Karen Alcock and had previously been an advisor to Mayor Glanville.

London Region Zooms In

On 13th July, five days before Dewey’s plea hearing, Hackney North & Stoke Newington Constituency Labour Party’s executive meeting convened its monthly meeting on Zoom. Some members calmly argued that there was a need to review the safeguarding implications of the Dewey case, not least because there was reason to believe that he may have canvassed or leafleted alongside young people after his arrest. Suddenly, a new figure, unknown to almost everyone on the call, appeared on members’ screens. Though she initially refused to identify herself to the minute-taker, the individual proved to be Pearleen Sangha, the Labour Party’s London regional director. Clearly incensed, Ms Sangha informed the meeting that under no circumstances could there be any further discussion. When asked what to say to residents on the doorstep, she said the only answer would be “no comment”.

The following evening Ms Sangha wrote to the CLP’s chair and secretary to inform them that the regional office had “paused” access to Labour’s Organise email system, making it impossible for CLP and local branch officers to convene formal meetings. The withdrawal of Organise access resulted in cancellation of July’s General Meeting, where delegates were due to vote on a motion to Party Conference.

Meanwhile, the legal process around the Dewey case apparently closed on Tuesday 15th August. The disgraced ex-councillor received a 12-month sentence, suspended for two years, alongside a community service order and 40 days of compulsory rehabilitation sessions at Wood Green Crown Court. Deemed “a moderate risk to teenage boys”, he is subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order. Within 24 hours, Mayor Phil Glanville broke his silence, giving an interview to Hackney Citizen journalist, Julia Gregory, and writing to the Council’s 50-strong Labour group.

Mayor’s “Error of Judgement”

Replies from Hackney Council to Freedom of Information requests had already revealed that the National Crime Agency notified the authority’s safeguarding lead on Friday 13th May last year of Dewey’s arrest and the nature of the alleged crimes. The Council’s then Chief Executive Mark Carroll was informed later that same day. The Chief Executive informed Mayor Glanville the following day. Caroll has since left the Council last month after a prolonged period of paid absence.

In his statement to the press and other Labour politicians, Glanville had asserted that he hadn’t seen or spoken to Dewey since learning of the arrest. Unfortunately for Glanville, his account soon unravelled. A selfie posted on Facebook was discovered. The photo, taken by the Mayor himself, included Dewey, Glanville and Sem Moema*, a local Labour councillor and the Greater London Assembly member for the city’s North East constituency. A time-stamped image shows a small party that coincided with the 14th May 2022 Eurovision finale. This came hours after the Mayor was definitely aware of the arrest and criminal investigation. The photo featured on the front page of the Morning Star and on Novara Media. By Thursday morning 31th August, the Labour Party had suspended Hackney’s Mayor less than 16 months after his re-election with 59% of first preference votes.

Four days later the Council announced that Glanville was taking a leave of absence for an unspecified period, with the statutory Deputy Mayor Anntoinette Bramble assuming mayoral duties in the meantime. A naïve observer might have thought that Party officials would then restore access to Organise for Hackney North CLP and acknowledge, however begrudgingly, that executive committee members had sought to raise legitimate concerns. Think again!

The Region Strikes Back

On Thursday 7th September the CLP’s then chair and secretary received an email from London regional official Lucy Atkinson informing them of the (very) partial restoration of Organise to three individuals imposed on the constituency as its new chair, secretary and treasurer. Two of the three were not on the existing executive, while one of them is not resident in the current Hackney North but serves as Hackney South’s treasurer.

Regional officials have claimed that the rationale for the imposition of interim officers relates to boundary changes, which see Hackney North lose three current wards while gaining one from Hackney South. But multiple analyses have shown that under the new boundaries Hackney North would retain more than 86% of its April 2023 configuration, so above the cut-off figure of 85% that would have allowed such a regional intervention.

The key figure among those imposed appears to be Lenny Shallcross, Hackney North’s new unelected secretary. A former Blair-era special advisor and current chief executive of a dementia charity, Shallcross has made no secret of his hot line to the regional office. His key tasks will almost certainly include an end to any further discussion of the Dewey case and the fallout from it as well as smoothing the path for a right-wing candidate to replace Diane Abbott as Labour’s standard-bearer in the constituency at the next General Election. Ms Abbott remains suspended from the Parliamentary Labour Party after The Observer published an ill-conceived letter, which she swiftly retracted and for which she apologised.

The region is also undoubtedly determined to ensure selection of the ‘right’ candidate to succeed Glanville if he does stand down, thus triggering a by-election for the £87,000-a-year mayoral post.

Several leading left activists in Hackney North have agreed statements (see below) calling for Labour’s National Executive Committee to reverse the region’s actions and restore internal democracy in the CLP. A separate statement calls for Phil Glanville’s immediate resignation as Mayor and independent public inquiry into the questions raised about the (mis)handling of the Dewey case since last spring.  

*To date there is no evidence that Cllr Moema or any other attendees at the 14th May 2022 party aside from Mayor Glanville were aware of Tom Dewey’s arrest and she has insisted that she only learned of it on 30th June this year.

Hackney Labour Left Statement on Tom Dewey matters

Left members in Hackney Labour Party were appalled and disgusted to learn of Tom Dewey’s crimes from newspaper reports on court proceedings over a year after his arrest on 29th April 2022 for making images of sexual abuse of children, including category A images which are graded the most serious. Tom Dewey carried on face to face campaigning after his arrest and remained a councillor for nearly two weeks. The news immediately raised questions about who in Hackney Labour leadership knew what and how the matter had been dealt with through to his resignation on 16th May 2022 and the announcement at Labour Group on 17th May that this was for “personal reasons”.

Safeguarding must be a priority as a matter of principle. It is not a “personal” matter. Safeguarding policies and procedures are put in place precisely to prevent abuse being prolonged as a result of people in a position to act knowing but covering up and sweeping it under the carpet for the sake of individual or organisational positions and reputations. The Labour Party, in common with organisations who come into contact with children and vulnerable adults, have a commitment to protecting those who may be at risk of abuse and promoting their welfare.

Conveying the impression that his resignation was of no concern to anyone else in the party was wrong. This message diminishes the impact his actions will have had on many and the fact that for years they took place whilst he had the authority of numerous roles within the Labour Party which gave him considerable standing and influence.

If this matter had been dealt with in an open, honest and transparent manner Hackney Labour Party would not be in the midst of a leadership crisis. Safeguarding and accountability must be placed ahead of politics. Discussing the implications of an arrest and safeguarding issues arising does not prejudice a case that is subjudice.

Philip Glanville’s position as Mayor is untenable after a fundamental breach of trust with Party members and the Hackney electorate. He should resign with immediate effect. Cllr Anntoinette Bramble should continue as a caretaker mayor with a by-election called on the same day as the Mayor of London’s election in 2024.

We call for :

1. Solid and caring support for the victims of Tom Dewey’s crimes and Hackney residents impacted.

2. An independent inquiry to establish the facts and failings in dealing with the Tom Dewey case in relation to his positions in the Labour Party (recognising that his crimes date back to at least January 2008).

This should include the circumstances of decision-making by the local Labour leadership and Council relating to the timeline of events from the NCA raid on his home, his election as a councillor and resignation less than 2 weeks later and the subsequent by-election.

3. Publication of recommendations to identify improvements needed in organisational systems and procedures, to demonstrate accountability, and to enable open discussion and learning.

4. A full review of all of Labour’s Safeguarding policies and procedures and a review of local and national Labour safeguarding practice to check whether relevant policy and procedures were fit for purpose and was actioned during Dewey’s time in the Labour Party.

Hackney North Labour Left Statement on the bureaucratic coup

We must also highlight and protest in the strongest terms at the  London Regional Labour Party’s treatment of Hackney North & Stoke Newington Constituency Labour Party (CLP) against the backdrop of the Tom Dewey scandal.

After Executive Committee members raised safeguarding issues at the Executive Committee’s 13 July 2023 meeting, we were silenced by the London Regional Director, Pearleen Sangha, who suddenly joined the Zoom call. Within 24 hours she moved to “pause” the CLP’s access to Organise, the email network which facilitates communication with members. This move was a form of collective punishment for the CLP for raising entirely legitimate concerns.

The London Region restored partial access today (Thursday 7 September), but the three senior Hackney North CLP officers (chair, secretary and treasurer) have been ousted and replaced by three unelected individuals, one of whom is not currently a Hackney North member. This purports to be under the Labour Party guidance for boundary changes. However, this covers constituencies with a change of more than 15% in membership, which does not apply to Hackney North. This is blatant factionalism and outrageous. It is especially damaging at a time when we are working with grassroots members and Hackney residents and community organisations to reassure them that we take safeguarding with the utmost seriousness. Many CLPs around the country will recognise this total disregard of Labour Party rules and democratic processes both regionally and nationally.

We call on the National Executive Committee to act to reinstate the CLP’s democratically elected Hackney North officers until an Annual General Meeting and put a halt to such anti-democratic abuse of power, which can only serve to undermine the morale of many Party members, especially in the wake of the Dewey scandal and the revelations of the past fortnight regarding the elected Mayor’s dishonesty.

7th September 2023

Image: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Borough_of_Hackney#/media/File:Hackney_UK_locator_map.svg. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0