With all the recent discussions over the membership and role of the NEC, I thought I'd take a look at the rules - and was surprised to see this text below;

"4C.2a No elected member of the House of
Commons, European Parliament, Scottish
Parliament, Welsh Assembly or a member
of the House of Lords shall be eligible to
stand in Divisions I, II, III, or IV of the NEC.
Any member of Divisions I, II, III or IV shall
cease to be a member of the NEC if they
are elected to the House of Commons,
European Parliament, Scottish Parliament,"

Isn't Keith Vaz MP in Division II (socialist and co-operative societies)? Does anyone know if there was some dispensation in the rules that allowed Keith to take this NEC position while remaining an MP?

The Black Socialist Society Special Conference 2007 will be held in Manchester College of Arts and Technology, Ashton Old Road, Manchester, M11 2WH on Saturday 24 November 2007. Conference attendees will gather to take part in Labour’s policy making process, receive training, hear from Government Ministers and much more.  For more info - http://www.tmponline.org/?p=259

The head of Labour's Ethnic Minority Taskforce has renewed calls for the introduction of all ethnic minority shortlists.