NEW OFFICER TEAM FOR NEW ERA IN ROTHERHITHE

The Labour Party in Rotherhithe & Surrey Docks has selected a new team of officers to lead the local Branch for the next year, at its Annual General Meeting on June 13^th.

A mix of new faces and familiar ones was chosen by local Branch members to be Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, Vice Chair, Membership Secretary and Branch Organiser.

First the ‘old’ faces. Outgoing Chair John Hellings, who stood as Labour candidate in the recent May Southwark Council elections for Rotherhithe Ward was re-elected as Chair of the Branch and outgoing Vice-Chair Anne Sacks, who narrowly missed being elected as Labour candidate in neighbouring Livesey Ward to the south of Rotherhithe, was endorsed to continue in that role.

The Branch then had to thank Mark Hanlon who has been our able Secretary for two years now as work commitments meant he had to hand over the reins to someone new.

Members chose Rachael Maskell, former Chair of Chipping Barnet Constituency Labour Party, who moved to Rotherhithe last year. Rachael is a highly experienced worker who currently holds a high position in the Amicus-MSF trade union.

Also standing down, as his business will be making many new demands on his time, is our Treasurer Charles Stanley, who has wisely managed the Branch’s finances for two years now.

Local Downtown resident Kath Whittam was elected to assume the role. Kath has also recently been elected to represent Downtown residents in negotiations with Southwark Council to re-develop much of the area around the local Community and Health Centre.

Finally our long-serving Organiser and Membership Secretary Steve Boyer announced he was standing down. Steve stood as one of Labour’s candidates at the May elections in neighbouring Riverside Ward.

So the AGM voted for George Foulkes to step up to this vital position. George stood as Labour candidate in the Surrey Docks Ward at the last Council elections, and has been a very prominent officer of the Transport and General Workers’ Union, as its convenor at Ford’s of Dagenham.

The Branch’s new officer team has therefore got a solid breadth of experience to take on the fight against the new Tory/Liberal Democrat alliance governing Southwark Council, as well as having impressive background experience in politics – in the Trade Union movement, local government, and election campaigning.

The Branch’s appointments also mean that the Branch has achieved another landmark in its history, with the majority of our executive officers in post now being women.

For further details or to contact any of the new team, telephone John Hellings, Chair, on 020 7237 2287 or send him an e-mail on johnhellings@hotmail.com

Return to main page