Mr Lange confirmed as Labour deputy

Press, 13 February 1981, Page 3

Mr Lange confirmed as Labour deputy

Parliamentary reporter ■ In less than four minutes of the first Labour Party caucus meeting of the year, Opposition members of Parliament settled the most urgent item on their agenda —the confirmation of Mr D. R. Lange as their deputy. In Mr Rowling’s own words, he and Mr . Lange “kind of snuck bp on” the caucus and put two resolutions to the meeting which required neither seconder nor show of hands. The first, put by Mr Rowling, confirmed Mr Lange’s position “with confidence.” The second was put by Mr Lange and sought the full co-operation of all members of the caucus and the leadership to win the GeneraL Election. Asked if. the resolutions had been adopted unanimously, Mr Rowling said they had been supported “very strongly on the voices.” “There . were no demands for a show of hands of any-

thing of that kind,” he said. Mr Rowling was asked if the support for the resolutions had been lobbied for, or if it had been spontaneous, and replied that caucus members would have had a difficult time lobbying. “We kind of snuck up on them with the resolutions, so it had to be a spontaneous reaction,” he said. The resolutions had, however, “completely disposed of and put an end to” any conjecture or doubt about

the party’s leadership, he said. Mr Lange said he was “well satisfied with the outcome.” By the time the two emerged from the caucus meeting to tell reporters the outcome, the caucus had not considered the possibility of doing away with a Shadow Cabinet. The fate of a Shadow Cabinet and “a few other structural changes” were still to be considered during the two-day caucus, Mr Rowling said.