andrea
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Post by andrea on Mar 18, 2021 14:50:20 GMT
According to Labour List, the idea of an All Paul Williams Shortlist came from former Darlington MP Jenny Chapman, who now works in LOTO's officer as Director of Politics.
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Post by manchesterman on Mar 18, 2021 14:56:35 GMT
"Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville (Revolutionary Workers Party)  |
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Post by Arthur Figgis on Mar 18, 2021 14:57:14 GMT
A longlist with only one candidate is not a longlist at all. What if the candidate has a surname like Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville? Then they’d be standing for the Greens. |
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Post by timrollpickering on Mar 18, 2021 15:05:15 GMT
"Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville (Revolutionary Workers Party) With forenames like Jonty Tarquin? |
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bsjmcr
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Post by bsjmcr on Mar 18, 2021 15:07:41 GMT
It would be funnier if she stood in Rotherham Lee Rotherham was the Tory candidate in Rotherham in 2005. He didn't seem to go down very well it appears, neither did Melanie Dudley for Dudley North in 2019. Baroness Chapman of Darlington, to you! |
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sirbenjamin
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Post by sirbenjamin on Mar 18, 2021 15:40:19 GMT
With Parliament being in London, it's somewhat inevitable that politics does gravitate towards it. I do, however, find "Islington elite" (or "north London metropolitan liberal elite") a tiresome cliché, not only because it doesn't reflect the real socio-economic realities of north London. Indeed, it cradles the idea of a "sneering metropolitan elite" in cahoots together, thus playing on dangerous conspiracy theories. And it is often used, incredibly, by the likes of Johnson, who himself lived in Islington. Put simply, it's a right-wing slur. Totally agree. It also hides the fact that London as a particularly cosmopolitan area has challenges of its own - lots of young single people,, greater diversity in all sorts of levels. More extreme. Islington a classic example. The two million quid plus villas of Barnsbury are walking distance from the huge blocks of tenement flats nearby
This is because no government of any shade ever did anything for the 'priced out middle' because the stock response is always to mumble something about 'we don't want ghettoisation round here' and then fuck off back to ones £1m+ pad.
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Post by Merseymike on Mar 18, 2021 15:41:31 GMT
Totally agree. It also hides the fact that London as a particularly cosmopolitan area has challenges of its own - lots of young single people,, greater diversity in all sorts of levels. More extreme. Islington a classic example. The two million quid plus villas of Barnsbury are walking distance from the huge blocks of tenement flats nearby This is because no government of any shade ever did anything for the 'priced out middle' because the stock response is always to mumble something about 'we don't want ghettoisation round here' and then fuck off back to ones £1m+ pad.
I think its common to capital cities, though. They often tend to reflect the extremities in all sorts of ways |
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andrea
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Post by andrea on Mar 18, 2021 16:15:19 GMT
Baroness Chapman of Darlington, to you! I only recognize baronesses with true blue blood! |
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CatholicLeft
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Post by CatholicLeft on Mar 18, 2021 16:23:13 GMT
A longlist with only one candidate is not a longlist at all. What if the candidate has a surname like Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville? Tarquin Fin-tim-lin-bin-whin-bim-lim-bus-stop-F'tang-F'tang-Olé-Biscuitbarrel. |
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Post by pinkglover on Mar 18, 2021 18:35:35 GMT
Williams confirmed as Labour candidate.
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Post by Merseymike on Mar 18, 2021 18:41:00 GMT
If the opposition parties have any sense they will collect together every remain/rejoin statement he has ever made.
Labour will clearly run this as a one issue NHS by-election. Every leaflet will stress DR Paul Williams. The very worst sentimentalising shite will be rolled out.
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Post by Pete Whitehead on Mar 18, 2021 18:42:54 GMT
From his Twitter he seems to spend a lot of time discussing Uganda..
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CatholicLeft
Labour
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Post by CatholicLeft on Mar 18, 2021 18:57:13 GMT
Got to say, whilst I despair of the selection process, it is one very smart bit of political determination. It won't matter so much about his position on the EU than it will that he is a working doctor. He can argue that he knows the HoC well as a recent former MP, so will hit the ground running.
As Mike says, there will be loads of sentimental stuff about the NHS and the Covid-19 crisis, with his being a GP (and his wife a nurse) an absolute bonus in this campaign.
When the going is tough on Brexit, he can say "You won that argument, time to move and concentrate on the present crisis".
His being a serial breaker of the whip under Jeremy Corbyn will do him no harm in Hartlepool either.
He might lose, but it is smart politics by Labour.
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Post by manchesterman on Mar 18, 2021 19:06:39 GMT
It may well be that he turns out to be the best candidate for Labour, but that still dosent alter the fact that the way he was selected leaves a nasty whiff!
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andrea
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Post by andrea on Mar 18, 2021 19:13:47 GMT
His being a serial breaker of the whip under Jeremy Corbyn will do him no harm in Hartlepool either. Aren't literally all his rebellions EU related? Many of them are on votes about relations between EU and (insert name of another state). Anyway, majority of voters won't even know the process chosen to select him. They could have done the regular by-election's maneuvers: shortlist him + a random activist from somewhere in North East (assuming someone from NE applied). And he would have won the selection on Saturday by a landslide (assuming the CLP executive has a clue on situation among wider membership). |
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Post by Merseymike on Mar 18, 2021 19:38:02 GMT
Quite honestly if Labour can't move on from equating socialism with an NHS which - while I support in terms of retaining a "national" model - clearly requires considerable reform and the application of honest decision making - it rather sums up their predicament
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jamie
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Post by jamie on Mar 18, 2021 20:56:26 GMT
It does seem electoral malpractice to obviously stitch up the selection for a passionate remainer in a strongly pro-Brexit seat. Brexit doesn’t matter as much as it used to, but Labour are making it easier for their opponents to still use it as a stick to beat them with. The Labour leadership must either think they’ve got it in the bag, it won’t make much of a difference, or preferred/loyal candidates must be selected at all costs.
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Post by elinorhelyn on Mar 18, 2021 20:59:13 GMT
Honestly since the election is on the same day as the locals, an independent gain is more likely than a Tory gain in Hartlepool at least.
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Foggy
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Post by Foggy on Mar 18, 2021 21:37:01 GMT
It's a shame we no longer have Andrew Neil's four hour by election specials. JFTFY You youngsters didn't see the masters (Hanna/Rawnsley) in action. Neil is a Hartlepool FC to their Barcelona. I believe you mean Hartlepool United FC. The club that represents both Hartlepool and West Hartlepool, unlike in rugby union where the latter has its own team. As an aside we largely have John Major to blame/thank for the steady fall in the number of by-elections. In 1992 he introduced a more generous (many would say over-generous) pension scheme for MPs. Prior to then, MPs would literally work until they dropped because they couldn't afford to retire - there was even an MPs' hardship fund for retired MPs who found themselves in straitened circumstances. In a few years time we'll probably become one of those tinpot countries where the monarch is expected to routinely abdicate and hand over the rei(g)ns to a younger, newer, fresher candidate and tradition be feltched.
In the Low Countries, abdication is the tradition! There's nothing tinpot about the Netherlands, as this week's general election has continued to demonstrate. |
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sirbenjamin
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Post by sirbenjamin on Mar 18, 2021 21:48:29 GMT
If the opposition parties have any sense they will collect together every remain/rejoin statement he has ever made. Labour will clearly run this as a one issue NHS by-election. Every leaflet will stress DR Paul Williams. The very worst sentimentalising shite will be rolled out. It's a cynical tactic but one that worked well for Labour in Tooting so I get why they do it. Is there a big hospital that employs lots of people in the Hartlepool seat, do we know? |
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