by Chris McLaughlin
THE appointment of a new Labour Party general secretary has been delayed amid angry rows over the job specification.
A decision was initially expected to be made at this month’s National Executive Committee meeting on January 31.
But the timetable has slipped concerns were expressed about the need for proper procedures to be followed.
A final decision is not now expected until March, though the closing date for applications is February 4.
Party chair Dianne Hayter was reportedly furious with staff that an explicit instruction to party officers to ensure the NEC was consulted over the wording of a job specification before the post was advertised was not followed.
Instead, the wording was agreed with hired headhunters and recruitment professionals. Neither the job description and its accompanying person specification or the advert which appeared in national newspapers states that membership of the Labour Party is required.
The person specification states only that candidates “will be expected to have a passion and a commitment to the values of the Labour Partyâ€.
This, together with talk at high levels of the need to appoint a person who would be untouched by the even the most distant and innocent link to recent financial scandals – that is, any senior figure in the labour movement – has increased speculation that Downing Street’s aim was to install a high-flyer from the business community.
Pressure for a formally agreed job description comes in the wake of previous appointments where none was drawn up, raising questions about the precise role of the general secretary, specifically in relations between the party and Number 10.
It is understood, however, that party officers relied heavily on the expertise of Rockpools recruitment consultants, which counts former minister Nick Raynsford among its non-executive directors. Officials were told that if the appointments procedures were to be carried out in a professionally acceptable way the 31 January deadline could not be met.
Concerns over the appointment and wider recruitment issues were raised at a special briefing by party officers to NEC members last Wednesday (January 16) amid pressure for a review of party management, accountability, structures and financial control.
Two experienced trade union officials with solid track records in the labour movement are the only publicly known contenders at this stage. Mike Griffiths of the Amicus section of Unite and last year’s NEC chair is likely to receive the formal backing of Unite in a race against Unison deputy general secretary Keith Sonnet.
