APSANA BEGUM (Tower Hamlets) and Cllr Bob Littlewood (Redbridge) have been elected to represent the “City & the East” part of London on the Labour Party’s London Regional Board.
The two were elected by Labour Party delegates to the London Regional Conference held over the weekend of 2rd and 3rd March. They will be representing Labour Party members from the City, Barking & Dagenham, Newham, Redbridge, Havering and Tower Hamlets for the next two years.
Apsana Begum, who is the Secretary of the Constituency Labour Party of Poplar & Limehouse, said, “This is first time a British Bangladeshi has been elected to this role in the Labour Party and is a significant milestone in ethnic minority representation in politics and in the Labour Party.” She welcomed the London Labour Party’s new commitment to redouble its efforts to oppose the far Right extremists active in the UK, who spread the politics of hate.
She thanked party members who had supported her and Bob and pledged that the pair will now work hard to represent local members’ interests and views on the Board. She pointed out that the communities in the City and East part of London face many challenges, including some of the highest rates of poverty and deprivation in the UK.
Ms Begum welcomed policies adopted by the London Conference over the weekend which committed Labour to build more genuinely affordable social housing and improve worker’s rights – which would be a good start to tackling the problems in City and East. She also vowed to campaign for the Labour Party to improve the support it gives to members from all minority backgrounds and to develop opportunities for scrutiny and the fair application of rules and internal processes.
Ms Begum concluded with a final pledge to the thousands of members she and Bob now represent, saying, “The work starts now for a London Labour that delivers on Jeremy Corbyn’s vision. I am proud to begin working for you, for a London Labour For The Many.”
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