5 down, 19 to go
Socialist Campaign Group member Alan Simpson MP has announced his retirement at the next election - the fifth member of a group already down to only 24 MPs to do so.
With the weak record of Hard Left MPs in ensuring they are succeeded by their ideological allies when they retire - largely because the grassroots of the Party are no longer inspired by shouty sloganeers - is the continued survival of this current in the Party as an organised faction in the PLP sustainable?
Hopefully not.
posted by Luke Akehurst at 11:16 am
11 Comments:
Simpson, Lynne Jones, Etherington, Clapham....who's the 5th who is going?
1:17 pm, February 19, 2007
I was thinking of Skinner - who is a lot more of a loss than the others, as he plays a constructive role on the NEC and puts more energy into attacking the Tories than his own side. I'm not sure it is 100% he is retiring but has been suggested.
1:33 pm, February 19, 2007
Ah, ok.
I don't think it's official, but I suppose it wouldn't be a surprise if he retires (and there're a couple of other Campaign Groupers who are so old...does Bob Wareing really want to go on until 2013?).
I think Simpson and Jones are more of a loss to PLP than Skinner who has lost some of his credibility in recent times IMO. In his attacks to the tories, he sometimes sounds so out of his depth that they usually backfire against him.
However he's a sort of historical figure now..so he'll be probably missed too
1:59 pm, February 19, 2007
What do you mean by 19 to go Luke? I hope you're not doing a Short.
6:19 pm, February 19, 2007
19 to be replaced by better Labour MPs when they retire. Even the worst Labour MP is better than the best opposition one.
6:30 pm, February 19, 2007
One must assume that Nottingham South CLP's chair, Christine Shawcroft, campaign group supporter and NEC member, must rate her chances to succeed Simpson and thereby maintain his legacy!
9:30 pm, February 19, 2007
:o) Good answer Luke (not that the people you mention were anything but excellent MPs! Alan is fantastic)
Robin - I suspect you might be right...
10:31 pm, February 19, 2007
Splendid! Does this mean I can mark you down for the 'deselect Diane Abbott' campaign Luke?
It's surely about time this despicable witch be deprived of her false claim of speaking on behalf of Labour Party members in Hackney.
5:41 pm, February 20, 2007
Have made my position on Diane clear on multiple occasions on this site - I will vote to deselect her as I did in run up to '05 and '02 elections but not actively encourage others to. It would be grossly hypocritical of me to vote for her, as we disagree on almost every major issue.
5:45 pm, February 20, 2007
Good stuff - sorry I didn't clock it earlier.
D.
1:42 pm, February 21, 2007
well, Neil Gerrard is retiring too
2:16 pm, February 23, 2007
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