European Selection: meanwhile, in another part of town...

Putting aside the GLA selection for the day, I spent a sizeable chunk of time at English Candidates Committee, preparing for the European selection that goes live on Friday, in my triple role as a member of the committee, Returning Officer for South East England and member of London's Selection Committee.

Part of the meeting was spent considering protocols addressing particular circumstances that have arisen, and information on this will be made available to relevant parties in due course. However, we also looked at the Rules pertaining to the campaign phase of the European selection, particularly salient in the light of the GLA selection. Some eminently sensible changes have been agreed, and I hope that they will go some way towards addressing concerns raised elsewhere. Once the amendments have been incorporated into the Selection Rules, these too will be made public, certainly no later than Friday.

Unfortunately, due to the fact that the meeting overran somewhat, I had to leave before it concluded in order to convene the first meeting of the South East England selection committee, where we had to address issues relating to the selection criteria, regional profile and scheduling. It was an immense relief to see the committee work quickly, efficiently and effectively, and I now expect us to be ready to go live on Friday.