Of course, this couldn't have come at a worse time for my CLP. The faction fight that has blighted the party since the Labour mayor of Stoke, Mark Meredith, was deposed by Democracy4Stoke (a cross party organisation led by several long-standing Labour party members), is damaging the campaign to make sure Mark's seat stays Labour. Scarcely a day goes by without local blog Pits n Pots carrying news on the latest shenanigans. And then last Saturday our campaign was hardly boosted by The Sentinel's front page story on how the party is to be sued by long-standing members Mick Williams, Gary Elsby and Barry Stockley. To add a selection battle to the mix is a situation pregnant with toxic possibilities.
I'd like to send Mark my best wishes and hope he enjoys life after Parliament. But for the rest of us in Stoke Labour, to say we're on the threshold of interesting times is an understatement.
9 comments:
What are the chances that the replacement candidate will not be a Blairite wanker?
slim to non i'd bet. i assume its quite a possibility that Meredith could be selected?
to be honest Phil, maybe its time good lefts like yourself broke with Labour and joined the struggle for political representation. You've done good work in Labour, but you've wasted enough time flogging a dead horse.
let me know what you think :-)
And how will the selection (or not) of a Blairite wanker impact on your decision to join Labour?
The poor man's only been back in the Labour Party for five minutes and already you want him to leave again?
well quite a lot of recent selections have gone to trade union backed candidates, as the pre-election period is giving unions quite a bit of leverage
I see a raven-haired beauty being parachuted in.
Well in Wigan and Liverpool Wavertree Blairite horrors and London dinner party types have been blatantly manipulated into position. They will turn safe seats marginal AND betray their own supporters after the election. And now Gloria de Piero, political correspondent of *GMTV* is reportedly being lined up for a seat in Notts (see Private Eye).
These people take the biscuit for careerism and hypocrisy.
AF
We will have to see what happens, depending on the method of selection the powers that be opt for. Whatever the case local members will have the *final say*.
I think it's unlikely Mark Meredith will get it simply because of the bad reputation he acquired as mayor.
A few names are in the frame, but given the "safeness" of the seat I'm sure some national figures will be interested. Whatever happens you'll hear about it here first.
Anonymous highlights Wigan and Liverpool Wavertree. Fair point on the second and you could also have mentioned Liverpool West Derby though I would give Lisa Nandy a fair crack first in Wigan. She may have been working in London recently but she's from the area and has been leading the campaign against detention of child asylum seekers in places like Yarl's Wood. It's also worth mentioning those who've been selected but are on the left - Ian Lavery, John Cryer, Teresa Pearce, Nancy Platts...it's not all going the neo-liberals way in the selections.
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