In a move brokered by Amicus Unite Deputy General Secretary Tony Dubbins, the Grassroots Alliance has agreed to back Mike Griffiths for General Secretary, having secured the withdrawal of "wildcard" left-wing NEC candidate John Wiseman, the Labour candidate in Westmoreland & Lonsdale.

Wiseman has used the pages of Labourhome.org to present a platform that a number of left-wingers have found attractive, and which is known to have caused concern among Grassroots Alliance figures, who are not presenting "celebrity" candidate Walter Wolfgang for a further two-year bid - and who fear a split in the left-wing vote.

While John Wiseman should be proud to have secured from the Grassroots Alliance an undertaking to be more democratic in two years time (at the next NEC election) a further concession the left-wing slate has made is a promise to support Amicus Official Mike Griffiths' application for General Secretary of the Labour Party.

The Grassroots Alliance may well save a seat on the NEC through this deal - and I certainly hold no brief against Griffiths - but is this really the best way to recruit a General Secretary for the party in difficult times?

John Wiseman's announcement can be read here.

The Grassroots Alliance are standing a slate that lacks full democratic legitimacy in this year's NEC elections. As a young and perhaps idealistic member I am outraged at the partisan attacks on a committed democrat and activist who dares challenge this hypocrisy.

The full results for the NEC elections can broadly be shown to be good news for the left.  But the headline figures disguise one or two uncomfortable truths, the most pressing being that more than 140,000 party member chose not to participate.