LEFT SWEEP BOARD IN L.C.S. ELECTIONS from a special correspondent a
i icious press campaign (aided by really crude interference by nines tees tn a a eee egret the 1960 Committee candidates won all the elected seats in the recent London Co-operative Society electionse : Their candidate, Mr. H.J. Clayden, won the presidency with 3 5830 votes ee the 3,484 votes cast by the candidate of the London Co-operative Members Organjsation, Mrs, M. Millar. Mr. Clayden succeeded John Stonehouse, M.P.; who resigned after having only served two of his three years of office, This means that there will be another election for president next year, Other results
: oe Management Committee, six elected: Mr. R. Ledger, MeP., 4,0393 Counc. RB. Bastin, 3,550; Mrs. Betty Young, 3,5393; Mr. F. Brown, 3,426; Mr. A. Stilwell, 3,393; and Mr. R. Fletcher, 3,311. The highest vote received by the unsuccessful candidates was 2,345 for Mr. He Shoplande
Education Committee, one elected: Mrs. D Purcell, with 1,388 votes as against the unsuccessful candidate, Mrs. A Scaverien's 979.
Political Committee, one elected: Mr. A. Kearney, with 1,265 votes as against the unsuccessful candidate, Mr. E. Smythe's 911.
These elections took place against a background of a big improvement in the affairs of the LCS since the 1960 Committee members acquired their leading position, In the period under review at the time of the elections, the LCs made a surplus of £2,488,225 before appropriations for dividends, death benefit, donations, etc. The trading surplus was £851,111 after starting the period at a loss - the trends all indicate that improved management has drastically reduced costs and is putting the society above the line, UNION VOICE EDITOR THREATENS LEGAL ACTION OVER PRESS ALLEGATIONS
Arising out of the press campaign against the 1960 Committee candidates in the recent LCS elections, Richard Fletcher, one of the successful candidates and the editor of Union Voice, has instructed his solicitor to institute legal proceedings against the Express, Guardian and Observer over these papers! allegations that he is a member, supporter or associate of the Communist Party.
Mr, Fletcher sent, without prejudice to any further action, to the papers concerned a memorandum on the question. This statement referred to the numerous reports in the press alleging that the 1960 Campaign Committee candidates were either Communists, associated with the Communist Party or under its control. It was widely said after the elections that the LCS was now under Communist control, As one of the 1960 Cttee. candidates Mr. Fletcher answers these allegations and sets out his own political position. Mr. Fletcher points out that he has never been a member of, or associatedwith, any political organisation other than the Labour and Co-operative Parties. In 1959 he was elected secretary of the Cambridgeshire L.P. and held that position for two years. On moving to London he was elected to the L.P. London Executive from his union, ASSET, After the Scarborough Conference in 1960, Mr. Fletcher had helped to organise the Appeal for Unity, and in February, 1963, he became the editor of Union Voice.
Of the six 1960 Cttee. candidates, only one is a Communist. The others include a Labour M.P., a Labour borough councillor, and persons who have been members of the L.P. and Co-operative Parties for years. Of the 16 board members four are Communists, of these one has been on the board fo al years. He says that he is taking his action because a tiny minority shoul Ve allowed to pervert and distort the truth about political questions, because these allegations are immensely damaging to the interests of the L.C.S., and because the public and political careers are jeopardised by them,
THE Wi ER 20 AGE 9 THIRD WORLD NOTES Oionialisms
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