(extract)
"On Sunday 28th October, the constituents of Lewisham Labour Party will select a new candidate for the unpaid post of Women's Officer.
Of the candidates standing for selection, two are notable, one for the controversy they have managed to stir up, the other for her years of dedicated service to the residents of Lewisham.
Retired teacher Gill Hart is one of the candidates in the running for the position of Labour Women’s Officer for Lewisham. Hart was one of the women who worked tirelessly to save New Cross Learning Centre from closure in 2011, after the local Labour council threatened to cut funding to the service.
She has been running this vital community resource as an unpaid volunteer ever since, dedicating her time and energy in to the local Lewisham community.
A hands on grandmother, Hart is well-loved within the Lewisham area, and has also been a dedicated, active member of Lewisham Labour for many years, and has also been a member of Momentum since its inception in 2015. A longtime Lewisham resident since the 80’s, Gill was also part of the team that resurrected the much loved Fordham Park Festival in 2013.
In contrast Lily Madigan, who is also in contention for the post, has only been a resident of Lewisham for the past month, after Madigan moved to the area to start a politics degree at Goldsmith.
Madigan is young, a biological male, and also trans, so appears to provide the right sort of diversity UK Labour seems keen to promote currently. Like Hart, Madigan is a member of Momentum, but unlike Hart, Madigan has the organisation’s backing, and a slick campaign.
Yet Madigan does not have the years of activism and community service that Hart has under her belt, though previously did hold the post of Labour Women’s Officer in Tory/ UKIP stronghold, Rochester and Strood." (continues)
medium.com/@thainparnell/cast-a-vote-for-women-vote-for-gill-hart-to-become-labour-lewisham-deptfords-new-women-s-officer-e111475a6c4
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www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3402921-lily-m-standing-as-women-s-officer-again