Former Labour councillor, suspended for voting against cuts, to stand for Left Unity

A former Labour councillor who left the Labour party over its support for cuts has been selected to stand for Left Unity in the general election.

Kingsley Abrams, a Labour councillor in Lambeth, south London for seven years, resigned from the party after being suspended for voting against council spending cuts.

He is now standing in the Bermondsey & Old Southwark parliamentary constituency, as a joint candidate for Left Unity and the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition.

He said:
“Across the country, ordinary people are struggling in this period of austerity. I am fervently anti-austerity. But it had become increasingly clear that these policies cannot be articulated in the current Labour Party.

“Nurses, firefighters, council workers, office workers and young people did not cause the banking crises. Yet they have borne the brunt of the cuts that government, both national and local, has inflicted upon them. This is at the same time as tax cuts for the richest.

“I am delighted to be endorsed by Left Unity’s National Council as their joint candidate for Bermondsey and Old Southwark.”

Kingsley Abrams was a member of the Labour Party for 30 years.

At the 2001 general election he was Labour’s candidate for the constituency, getting 30.8 per cent of the vote. The sitting MP is Lib Dem Simon Hughes.

Felicity Dowling of Left Unity said:

“Kingsley Abrams stuck to his principles and voted against the cuts – but the Labour Party suspended him for doing the right thing.

“His candidacy is an important step for the anti-cuts movement and we hope others who are fed up with Labour’s support for austerity will join him in standing up.”

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