London Selections
Couple of interesting London parliamentary selections coming up.
Walthamstow - which is an All Women Shortlist - timetable was announced today - deadline for candidates to come forward is 7 September, shortlisting 18 October, selection 4 November. The two local frontrunners from within the CLP are CLP Secretary Laura Bruni, who is from the left but a good person who I got on well with when we were both candidates in 2005 in Essex, and my friend and former colleague in the Lewisham Council press office, Stella Creasy, who has been a councillor in the seat and Mayor of Waltham Forest and worked for Douglas Alexander.
Streatham - no decision yet on AWS but expected to be open to both men and women to run. Early frontrunners are Council Leader Steve Reed (Amicus backed), GLA Member Val Shawcross (GMB backed) and CLP Vice-Chair/Compass Executive member Chuka Umunna, who seems to have a talent for self-publicity. The New Statesman's Kevin Maguire says TGWU DGS/Party Treasurer Jack Dromey will run. Kevin's sources are normally accurate so that looks possible. The Streatham selection already has an excellent blog by a local member reporting it in detail: http://lambethlou.blogspot.com/
In both cases there is a strong Lib Dem local government presence and the LDs are in second place, so I hope local members will bear in mind campaigning skills and experience and remember they have to select someone that can fight and hold the seat - not just someone who hopes to waltz effortlessly in to being an MP.
posted by Luke Akehurst at 9:25 pm
17 Comments:
"I hope local members will bear in mind campaigning skills and experience and remember they have to select someone that can fight and hold the seat - not just someone who hopes to waltz effortlessly in to being an MP."
Good point...they're not marginal seats, but they're ultra safe seats either. So they shouldn't be taken for granted...taking them for granted just increase LD chances to get them
The coming weeks/months seem quite interesting for Labour selections all over the country with some good seats selecting: Bolton SE (with your Hackney colleague shortlisted), Leeds West, Glasgow Central (apparently a foregone conclusion), Easington, Washington and Sunderland West, Liverpool West Derby.
10:46 pm, August 21, 2007
anyone though how Leeds West or Washington and Sunderland West are shaping up.
Is Bob Wareing likely to get re-selected in Liverpool West Derby.
12:46 am, August 22, 2007
Bob Wareing was 77 the other day, according to the Guardian. Potentially 85 on finishing the next term. But no, I don't know is the answer.
A Mr Hatton was looking both chipper and gloriously slimy at Wilson's funeral on Monday ...
The quote that Andrea has picked up there is of course right ... but are you suggesting that there is any danger of this in either seat?
If so would any of the named names be the target of your spikes?
Any more on Nargis for Bolton and the other runners and riders??
11:05 am, August 22, 2007
"Any more on Nargis for Bolton and the other runners and riders?? "
The shortlist is: Nargis Khan, Yasmin Qureshi, Kevin Meagher, Akhtar Zaman, Julie Hilling and Richard Jackson.
The nominations were: Meagher 8, Qureshi 6, Hilling 5, Khan 3, Zaman 3, Jackson 1.
Ian Stewart MP had 10 nominations (9 of them from trade unions, including 6 of them from USDAW), but he failed to be shortlisted.
Former Blair's speech writer Phil Collins got just 1 nomination (after a tie with Meagher for that nomination) and he didn't turn out to the shortlisting meeting. Needless to say he wasn't shortlisted
11:18 am, August 22, 2007
jo coles, Cllr Alison Lowe and rachel reeves all in the running for Leeds West--- who's ahead anyone know.
Jo failed to be elected to Tower Hamlets Council May 2006 I think
Rachel was candidate in Bromley by election
Alison seems to have strong local roots.
who's in the lead?
12:05 pm, August 22, 2007
"jo coles, Cllr Alison Lowe and rachel reeves all in the running for Leeds West--"
Their websites for those interested in knowing more of them
http://www.jocoles.org/?m=200708
http://alisonlowe.org/
http://rachelreeves.net/
IIRC Jo Coles used to work for Yvette Cooper (infact on her website there are endorsements from Ed and Yvette) and tried to get selected in Halifax last time when Alice Mahon retired
12:17 pm, August 22, 2007
Thanks for those links Andrea - an interesting 'post TB-GB' contest.
Rachel has all the Union support sewn up, but will it be enough? Are Cooper and Balls endorsing you (especially when they are nearby MPs) enough?
4:39 pm, August 22, 2007
Jo Coles is a careerist apparatchik . fortunately seen off in Halifax .......Hope Laura gets Walthamstow. Because we need more left MPs ....
6:17 pm, August 22, 2007
UPDATE re Leeds West - speaking to local member this morning and am told short list of 4 now agreed in Leeds West. Reeves and Lowe have far more support than other two - Coles and Hoddinott. Lowe looked like early favourite but the scale of opposition against her in Leeds Labour Group and with Party activists is seemingly high. Her website puts her firmly in campaign group territory. Reeeves seems to be well liked by local members and a couple of stalwart councillors who carry some weight have come out in her favour. Coles is seen as a pure opportunist and another failure here is likely to finish her chances in West Yorkshire and rumour has it that she is ready to move back down south to find a seat there. Hoddinott from Beverley is well liked but not thought to have enough experience to follow in Battle's footsteps...
1:36 pm, August 24, 2007
Reeves has the support of 2 of the Bramley and Stanningley councillors and 2 of the Kirkstall councillors. She got the Kirkstall branch nomination, whilst the B&S one went to Jo Coles
2:49 pm, August 24, 2007
If Lowe has some support, but at the same time strong opposition, it can mean she would find difficult to pick up second preferences.
Also those who see Coles as a careerist not only won't vote her as their first choice, but they can become unlikely to transfer to her.
If Reeves is more generally liked, she can find easier to pick up transfers if she reaches the final 2 with one of the other 2
3:00 pm, August 24, 2007
I hear Luke's former Hackney comrade Cllr Marie Pye is to stand in Walthamstow. What maketh Mr Akehurst of that?
5:34 pm, August 24, 2007
Good for her. Another good campaigner.
8:38 pm, August 24, 2007
Washington and Sunderland West have shortlisted 6 candidates for their hustings on 8th September. They are: Gateshead East and Washington West MP Sharon Hodgson; GMB Political Officer Julie Elliot, 23 year old local lass Bridget Phillipson , London solicitor Farmida Bi who has also been shortlisted for Easington, Freelance Journalist Farah McArdle and Councillor Lee Vasey from Darlington.
Julie had the most nominations: 16 from the unions but none from the branches. Sharon received 5 branch nominations and 4 from unions and affiliates. Farah got 5 branch and 2 union nominations, while Bridget received 2 branch nominations and 1 from the Women's Forum run by her mother. Farmida got 3 branch nominations and 2 from affiliates. Lee Vasey received 1 union nomination.
11:44 pm, August 25, 2007
Re. Washington & Sunderland West, I had heard that Sharon & Julie were old allies, with Julie backing Sharon for the Gateshead seat on the understanding that she had a clear run at Washington & Sunderland West. However when Sharon lost the Gateshead seat she seems to have forget her promises. How many other promises will she forget? In 2004 Sharon replaced Joyce Quinn as Gateshead & Washington West Mp, however she choose to keep on her London home and let her children complete their education in the South East, was this because she felt our local schools were not good enough or because she was unsure of herself as a new MP.
9:04 pm, August 27, 2007
To the anonymous individual who chose to imply that there was something improper about Bridget Phillipson's nomination from the Washington and Sunderland West Women's Forum and also further implied that, as her mother, I had misused my position as Women's Officer of our CLP: can I just remind you that there are libel laws in this country. The internet is full of cowards who anonymously libel individuals. However, technology does make it possible to find out without too much difficulty who anonymous posters are. It is too much to hope that the kind of individual who thinks it's OK to attack people's integrity anonymously would have the bottle to come forward. But if you want to, do give me a ring - I'm more than happy for my conduct as a CLP officer to be scrutinised.
Clare Phillipson
12:53 am, August 30, 2007
Clare Phillipson said...
I work (although don't live) in Washington and am a long standing Labour Party member. So I was interested to read the information about who had been short-listed for the Labour parliamentary nomination in Washington and Sunderland West.
Then all hell breaks loose. It was as if someone had been falsely accused of some heinous crime: the magistrates are alerted, the yeomanry called to guard the town walls; Judge Dread himself awaits the outcome ...Interesting times or what?
What is this all about, really? Anonymous's statement that Bridget Phillipson had been nominated “…from the Women's Forum run by her mother” hardly implies wrong doing, as Clare Phillipson, Bridget’s mother, is indeed the chair of the Women's Forum and there is nothing wrong with that.
Surely Clair would have declared her interest at the Women's Forum and, in keeping with best practice, would have temporarily stood down from the chair and taken no part in the nomination process.
I for one would have had no reason to question whether best practice had been followed, save for Clare’s disproportionate utterances.
Howay, ‘Me thinks thou protest too much!’.
Rick.
(HT Media, Stephenson Ind. Est.)
12:34 am, September 08, 2007
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