Liverpool West Derby

[Merseymike]

Like its neighbouring Walton seat, the West Derby constituency was mostly Conservative until 1964 and two of its subsequent Labour MPs have defected. First Eric Ogden to the SDP in the early 1980's and Bob Wareing to Independence after being deselected by a CLP who felt the need for an MP more interested in West Derby than Serbia, who he was a strong advocate for in the post-Yugoslavia Balkan disputes.
However this is a safe Labour seat. Ian Byrne, community activist and left wing MP got 77.6% of the vote. The seat consists of six wards, and a couple of Liverpool's largest council estates (and also one of the city's largest private housing developments) The voting patterns of both is the same - overwhelmingly Labour. And the same is true for all the wards in the seat, at least at national level. This includes the West Derby ward, which was once one of the city's safe Conservative wards

Locally things are not quite as monolithic. The Tuebrook and Stoneycroft ward is the base of Steve Radford and the Liberal Party, and while attempts to establish a base in other wards did not take hold, at a local election the Liberals hold the seat comfortably. Except in 2015 when, held on the same day as the General election, Labour took the ward, but the Liberals still managed 35% of the vote. This strength also saw Steve Radford manage a second place in 1997 and 2001 albeit far behind Labour.
The Conservatives fell to fourth in 2001 but now come a distant second. The Liberal Democrats held Knotty Ash (yes, it is a real place) from 2004-2010 at local level but it is now as securely Labour as the other wards. West Derby followed the same pattern and the winning Councillor in 2010 admitted that she had been selected purely as a paper candidate and hadn't even distributed a leaflet.

Such is the strength of Labour in this seat that even it's middle class areas of West Derby Village and the private Barratts style housing of Croxteth Country Park, which would attract Tory sales reps in other seats, are solidly Labour. And it's working class areas did not allow their preference for Leaving - the constituency just voted to Remain - affect their vote for the Labour party.

[spqr]

Apr 22, 2020 16:43:34 GMT Merseymike said:

Like its neighbouring Walton seat, the West Derby constituency was mostly Conservative until 1964 and two of its subsequent Labour MPs have defected. First Eric Ogden to the SDP in the early 1980's and Bob Wareing to Independence after being deselected by a CLP who felt the need for an MP more interested in West Derby than Serbia, who he was a strong advocate for in the post-Yugoslavia Balkan disputes.

I like the idea of Bob Wareing as some sort of free state, perhaps moored off the coast and with a Serbian flag...

[gwynthegriff]

Apr 22, 2020 17:12:54 GMT @barnabymarder said:

I believe that this is the native constituency of Mr Wayne Rooney. And no doubt some other famous people.

Home of the first Liverpool Zoo.

[Merseymike]

Apr 22, 2020 17:12:54 GMT @barnabymarder said:

I believe that this is the native constituency of Mr Wayne Rooney. And no doubt some other famous people.

It is indeed. Though he now lives in Cheshire. Both his and his wife's families are firmly in the Labour column

[yellowperil]

Apr 22, 2020 17:25:51 GMT gwynthegriff said:

Apr 22, 2020 17:12:54 GMT @barnabymarder said:

I believe that this is the native constituency of Mr Wayne Rooney. And no doubt some other famous people.

Home of the first Liverpool Zoo.

Can you explain the relationship between these two facts?

[Merseymike]

Apr 22, 2020 22:29:14 GMT @barnabymarder said:

Apr 22, 2020 17:49:55 GMT Merseymike said:

It is indeed. Though he now lives in Cheshire. Both his and his wife's families are firmly in the Labour column

I have heard that he himself is pro-NHS, though everyone seems to be now.

Both him and his wife have a number of pro NHS comments on record. A lot of Liverpool born footballers still vote Labour. Jamie Carragher, originally from Bootle, is a party member

[Devil Wincarnate]

Apr 22, 2020 23:23:40 GMT Merseymike said:

Apr 22, 2020 22:29:14 GMT @barnabymarder said:

I have heard that he himself is pro-NHS, though everyone seems to be now.

Both him and his wife have a number of pro NHS comments on record. 

It is one of those things that you can't imagine anyone doing the opposite of, and therefore it's always rather pointless.  See also the military.  Then again, Facebook seems to be full of people who believe the NHS is infallible when speaking ex cathedra, but will be back to slagging it off the moment they have to wait for something.

[Merseymike]

Apr 23, 2020 7:42:45 GMT Devil Wincarnate said:

Apr 22, 2020 23:23:40 GMT Merseymike said:

Both him and his wife have a number of pro NHS comments on record. 

It is one of those things that you can't imagine anyone doing the opposite of, and therefore it's always rather pointless.  See also the military.  Then again, Facebook seems to be full of people who believe the NHS is infallible when speaking ex cathedra, but will be back to slagging it off the moment they have to wait for something.

Take the point, but there are plenty of conspicuously right wing footballers around! It's interesting that both Liverpool and Everton have had managers known to be left wing - Shankly, Moyes and of course Klopp.

[Devil Wincarnate]

Apr 23, 2020 7:58:41 GMT Merseymike said:

Apr 23, 2020 7:42:45 GMT Devil Wincarnate said:

It is one of those things that you can't imagine anyone doing the opposite of, and therefore it's always rather pointless.  See also the military.  Then again, Facebook seems to be full of people who believe the NHS is infallible when speaking ex cathedra, but will be back to slagging it off the moment they have to wait for something.

Take the point, but there are plenty of conspicuously right wing footballers around! It's interesting that both Liverpool and Everton have had managers known to be left wing - Shankly, Moyes and of course Klopp.

The most right-wing footballer I think I've ever noticed is Christian Abbiati, who makes Paolo di Canio look like Richard Attenborough.

[Devil Wincarnate]

Apr 23, 2020 8:10:42 GMT @barnabymarder said:

Apr 23, 2020 7:58:41 GMT Merseymike said:

Take the point, but there are plenty of conspicuously right wing footballers around! It's interesting that both Liverpool and Everton have had managers known to be left wing - Shankly, Moyes and of course Klopp.

of course some figures associated with Manchester United seem to be left of centre - Ferguson, Gary Neville, and more obscurely Brian McClair and Gordon McQueen.

Yes, curious that United (the team of the city's Establishment) have been connected with left-wing figures, whereas City have tended to have no obvious political connections.  Although City have had religious connections- as you're probably aware yourself, City have tended to have a high share of the local Jewish support, and a lot of the early furore around Bert Trautmann's signing ended after a rabbi wrote an open letter to the Manchester Evening News saying he deserved a fair go.

[Merseymike]

Apr 23, 2020 8:13:08 GMT Devil Wincarnate said:

Apr 23, 2020 7:58:41 GMT Merseymike said:

Take the point, but there are plenty of conspicuously right wing footballers around! It's interesting that both Liverpool and Everton have had managers known to be left wing - Shankly, Moyes and of course Klopp.

The most right-wing footballer I think I've ever noticed is Christian Abbiati, who makes Paolo di Canio look like Richard Attenborough.

Yes, he is openly a self-defined fascist
I did think it was amusing how di Canio really couldn't grasp how his admiration for Mussolini would be received - its much more commonplace in Italy than many would care to admit
Anyway, this needs transferring to the football thread!

[Deleted]

Apr 23, 2020 8:22:46 GMT Merseymike said:

Apr 23, 2020 8:13:08 GMT Devil Wincarnate said:

The most right-wing footballer I think I've ever noticed is Christian Abbiati, who makes Paolo di Canio look like Richard Attenborough.

Yes, he is openly a self-defined fascist
I did think it was amusing how di Canio really couldn't grasp how his admiration for Mussolini would be received - its much more commonplace in Italy than many would care to admit
Anyway, this needs transferring to the football thread!

Unlike in Germany, fascism in Italy never went away - fascist or post-fascist parties have consistently won 10-15% of the vote in elections since WWII, and are currently at the higher end of that range. The Duce's granddaughter - who as she has aged has come to look disconcertingly like Benito in a wig - was an active politician until quite recently.

A while back I posted this photo I took of a souvenir shop in Taormina -

[Pete Whitehead]

I went out with an Italian girl when I was about 18 who described herself as a Fascist. I thought she was joking when she first told me or trying to be edgy or controversial in the way that some of my school friends might have done, but no it was just matter-of-fact - that was her political affiliation, MSI (as then was)

[The Bishop]

Apr 23, 2020 8:10:42 GMT @barnabymarder said:

Apr 23, 2020 7:58:41 GMT Merseymike said:

Take the point, but there are plenty of conspicuously right wing footballers around! It's interesting that both Liverpool and Everton have had managers known to be left wing - Shankly, Moyes and of course Klopp.

of course some figures associated with Manchester United seem to be left of centre - Ferguson, Gary Neville, and more obscurely Brian McClair and Gordon McQueen.

Matt Busby was a socialist, and Liverpool also had Paisley and Fagan in the lifelong Labour column.

Indeed, whilst football players tend to vote Tory - managers seem more left-friendly. You can also cite Brian Clough and more recently Roy Hodgson.

[Devil Wincarnate]

@goodoldcause2, it's sad for Alessandria that she has not taken after her aunt- Sophia Loren.

Arguably her career in politics owed less to her famous name and more to the fact that she was a well-known glamour model!

[Devil Wincarnate]

Apr 23, 2020 12:02:24 GMT The Bishop said:

Apr 23, 2020 8:10:42 GMT @barnabymarder said:

of course some figures associated with Manchester United seem to be left of centre - Ferguson, Gary Neville, and more obscurely Brian McClair and Gordon McQueen.

Matt Busby was a socialist, and Liverpool also had Paisley and Fagan in the lifelong Labour column.

Indeed, whilst football players tend to vote Tory - managers seem more left-friendly. You can also cite Brian Clough and more recently Roy Hodgson.

I have in my possession a bizarre book that the Belgian Francophone liberals once gave me, and in it is a gurning photo of their newest senator, one Marc Wilmots, great player and mediocre manager. He didn't last long before heading back into management. At this time, he was in a caucus of sorts with the former head judo coach, who was a Flemish liberal.

[J.G.Harston]

Apr 23, 2020 12:02:24 GMT The Bishop said:

Apr 23, 2020 8:10:42 GMT @barnabymarder said:

of course some figures associated with Manchester United seem to be left of centre - Ferguson, Gary Neville, and more obscurely Brian McClair and Gordon McQueen.

Matt Busby was a socialist, and Liverpool also had Paisley and Fagan in the lifelong Labour column.

Indeed, whilst football players tend to vote Tory - managers seem more left-friendly. You can also cite Brian Clough and more recently Roy Hodgson.

And of course there's Felchester Rovers, Britain's only communist football team.

[Deleted]

Apr 23, 2020 14:23:17 GMT Devil Wincarnate said:

@goodoldcause2 , it's sad for Alessandria that she has not taken after her aunt- Sophia Loren.

Arguably her career in politics owed less to her famous name and more to the fact that she was a well-known glamour model!

In Italy that would be a help. I'm sure you will know about Ilona Staller (Cicciolina). She was a Hungarian porn star who spent five years as a deputy for the Italian Partito Radicale. On one occasion (I am told by my Other Half) she returned in triumph to Budapest, where she was driven nude in a limo through cheering crowds.

[spqr]

Apr 23, 2020 15:12:11 GMT @goodoldcause2 said:

Apr 23, 2020 14:23:17 GMT Devil Wincarnate said:

@goodoldcause2 , it's sad for Alessandria that she has not taken after her aunt- Sophia Loren.

Arguably her career in politics owed less to her famous name and more to the fact that she was a well-known glamour model!

In Italy that would be a help. I'm sure you will know about Ilona Staller (Cicciolina). She was a Hungarian porn star who spent five years as a deputy for the Italian Partito Radicale. On one occasion (I am told by my Other Half) she returned in triumph to Budapest, where she was driven nude in a limo through cheering crowds.

That reminds me of the novelist John Braine, who once said that his dream was to return to Bradford in a triumphal procession flanked by a pair of naked beauties draped in jewels.

[Devil Wincarnate]

Apr 23, 2020 15:12:11 GMT @goodoldcause2 said:

Apr 23, 2020 14:23:17 GMT Devil Wincarnate said:

@goodoldcause2 , it's sad for Alessandria that she has not taken after her aunt- Sophia Loren.

Arguably her career in politics owed less to her famous name and more to the fact that she was a well-known glamour model!

In Italy that would be a help. I'm sure you will know about Ilona Staller (Cicciolina). She was a Hungarian porn star who spent five years as a deputy for the Italian Partito Radicale. On one occasion (I am told by my Other Half) she returned in triumph to Budapest, where she was driven nude in a limo through cheering crowds.

A complete loon, from an era of complete loons in Italian entertainment (Loredana Berte being another- if you can find the alleged story about her and the King of Sweden, you'll get an idea).  And one of her fellow PR members was Domenico Modugno, of Volare fame.