There are those who remain sceptical about the LRC's ability to reach beyond the narrow confines of London. For this reason I'm glad to post picture of our local ceremony the other night when I became Mayor of the town and surrounding villages. With me are LRC members and Labour councillors Dave Young ( pictured left) and Coun Janet Oosthuysen, who is hoping to stand as PPC for Calder Valley. Our good friend and comrade John Wiseman and his dad travelled all the way from St Helens to be there. Thanks to all ........

MAY DAY IN LEEDS

While the rest off the nation licks its wounds on Friday we in West Yorkshire have to head for Halifax for a belated count. As a paper candidate, my nerves are hardly on edge. But I do fear the BNP will make headway again in two particular wards. Chances are we will all head back to Hebden Bridge and the Trades Club for a lengthy post-mortem. Then on Saturday there's a rally in Leeds organised by the TUC with Jeremy Corbyn MP so an LRC contingent will be heading over . For anyone interested, the meeting-point is Leeds Art Gallery at around 11.30am.

LABOUR 4 CALDER!

Modern political campaigning requires modern political tools so congratulations to the comrades who have put together the campaign website for Janet Oosthuysen who is standing as candidate for Calder in the forthcoming local elections. Janet is an LRC member fighting a community-based campaign which means lots of slog in the far from unglamorous arena of wheelie bins, dog dirt, and fighting unwanted development in the Calder valley. Janet's also fighting for fair wages and plans to take the campaign on to fight for more council and affordable housing . For IT skills alone, she deserves to win!

NEXT MEETING......

The next meeting of the West Yorkshire LRC is on Saturday February 23 at 3pm at the Trades Club in Hebden Bridge. Chair Linda Riordan MP will be leading off a discussion about campaigning in Calderdale and there will be a report back from the National Committee .The bar is also open.......

HELP JANET'S CAMPAIGN

In May 2008, LRC member Janet Oosthuysen will be standing as candidate for the Calder ward . We ware organising a series of events including leafletting, canvassing and street stalls. If you can help Janet - and help build the LRC -contact secretary Susan Press on SsPre2@aol.com

LRC CANDIDATE FOR CALDERDALE.......

Congratulations.....to my fellow town councillor and friend Janet Oosthuysen who last night was selected as our candidate for the Metropolitan Calderdale council next year. The Calder ward has not been a Labour seat for some years but last year we were within a whisker of winning and , with a political, community-based campaign the our chances are better than ever. We will be knocking on doors, going out to local radical groups and aiming to engage with people on an issue by issue basis. Janet, who is one of three LRC members on the Hebden Royd Town Council, has set up a campaign Committee and we will need HELP in the New Year.

LRC MERSEYSIDE LAUNCH

This Saturday December 8 will see the launch of Merseyside LRC and I have been invited to go along and join in the discussion on the way forward for the left. The mood within the Party has darkened once again in the wake of the dodgy donations scandal - and even more importantly for me - the threat to the trade union link . However, I look forward to a constructive afternoon.LRC Chair John McDonnell MP and Liverpool West Derby MP Bob Wareing are both speaking and I'm sure there will be plenty of time for people to contribute. People from Greater Manchester ( who are in the process of organising their own LRC events in the New Year) are also going and anyone else is welcome. If you're interested the venue is the People's Community Centre near the RC cathedral at 12noon. Merseyside was once the epicentre of the UK left so let's hope this will herald a revival of radical socialist ideas.