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Post by tonyhill on Mar 16, 2021 17:16:27 GMT
Ed Balls has got more sense than to risk being humiliated at a by-election that Labour will probably lose. I would hazard a guess that even now Boris Johnson is plotting some pork barrel equivalent of the Humber Bridge for Hartlepool.
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Post by Arthur Figgis on Mar 16, 2021 17:17:32 GMT
Ed Balls has got more sense than to risk being humiliated at a by-election that Labour will probably lose. I would hazard a guess that even now Boris Johnson is plotting some pork barrel equivalent of the Humber Bridge for Hartlepool. Gold-plated monkey gallows. |
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Chris from Brum
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Post by Chris from Brum on Mar 16, 2021 17:29:40 GMT
Ed Balls has got more sense than to risk being humiliated at a by-election that Labour will probably lose. I would hazard a guess that even now Boris Johnson is plotting some pork barrel equivalent of the Humber Bridge for Hartlepool. The Tees Tunnel, connecting Hartlepool with Redcar, yes, it's a winner. Fails the CBA test even more comprehensively than the Humber Bridge, but it's only money after all. |
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Post by pragmaticidealist on Mar 16, 2021 17:40:30 GMT
Ed Balls has got more sense than to risk being humiliated at a by-election that Labour will probably lose. I would hazard a guess that even now Boris Johnson is plotting some pork barrel equivalent of the Humber Bridge for Hartlepool. He is a reasonably popular figure now, although that might be a reason to stay out. There are some obvious parallels between him and Michael Portillo, of course. Unpopular figures during their ministerial days to the extent that each came to be seen as a representation of everything wrong with the government and the party, lost their seats in perhaps the most symbolic results of the general election and then proceeded to become loveable media figures. |
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sirbenjamin
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Post by sirbenjamin on Mar 16, 2021 17:45:07 GMT
JFTFY You youngsters didn't see the masters (Hanna/Rawnsley) in action. Neil is a Hartlepool FC to their Barcelona. 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.
There is something I find very noble about dying in post.
I lament that these traditions appear to be withering away with scant resistance. Poet Laureate, AB of C, probably even the Pope now that a precedent has been set.
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.
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Post by timrollpickering on Mar 16, 2021 17:54:51 GMT
Ed Balls is another name that gets speculated about in every post-2015 by-election. Have we had "Milliband to return" speculation yet? |
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Post by gwynthegriff on Mar 16, 2021 18:13:46 GMT
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. There is something I find very noble about dying in post.
Not for councillors! The number I have seen clinging to the role when their minds and/or their bodies are past it . . . |
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Post by gwynthegriff on Mar 16, 2021 18:14:37 GMT
Ed Balls has got more sense than to risk being humiliated at a by-election that Labour will probably lose. I would hazard a guess that even now Boris Johnson is plotting some pork barrel equivalent of the Humber Bridge for Hartlepool. A bridge/tunnel to somewhere? |
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Post by gwynthegriff on Mar 16, 2021 18:18:34 GMT
That should prompt a flood of donations to the Conservative fighting fund. Anyone got the address? |
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Merseymike
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Post by Merseymike on Mar 16, 2021 18:22:27 GMT
Ed Balls is another name that gets speculated about in every post-2015 by-election. We laughed at him back then, but he is a giant compared to the current Labour front-bench. Could do a lot worse. How? It was his ludicrous formula which wrecked Miliband's opposition. It made no sense at all. |
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Post by pinkglover on Mar 16, 2021 18:44:36 GMT
Very very quick timetable for Labour selection - applications closing tomorrow at 5pm, selection on Friday or Saturday.
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Post by southernliberal on Mar 16, 2021 19:17:28 GMT
I hope Boris keeps us in lockdown if for no other reason than to minimise the number of vox pops with people who have not voted Labour for years, have no intention of voting Labour, but are nonetheless interviewed in their droves to tell us that Labour are in danger of losing LIFELONG LABOUR VOTERS in the RED WALL. The good news on this, is that I expect there to be a significantly smaller number of people who can claim to be "lifelong" Labour voters given the 2019 general election results. |
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Chris from Brum
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Post by Chris from Brum on Mar 16, 2021 19:18:54 GMT
Very very quick timetable for Labour selection - applications closing tomorrow at 5pm, selection on Friday or Saturday. Blimey, it really is make your mind up time! |
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Post by greenchristian on Mar 16, 2021 19:32:26 GMT
I hope Boris keeps us in lockdown if for no other reason than to minimise the number of vox pops with people who have not voted Labour for years, have no intention of voting Labour, but are nonetheless interviewed in their droves to tell us that Labour are in danger of losing LIFELONG LABOUR VOTERS in the RED WALL. The good news on this, is that I expect there to be a significantly smaller number of people who can claim to be "lifelong" Labour voters given the 2019 general election results. You omitted the word "honestly". |
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J.G.Harston
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Post by J.G.Harston on Mar 16, 2021 19:35:25 GMT
Ed Balls has got more sense than to risk being humiliated at a by-election that Labour will probably lose. I would hazard a guess that even now Boris Johnson is plotting some pork barrel equivalent of the Humber Bridge for Hartlepool. The Tees Tunnel, connecting Hartlepool with Redcar, yes, it's a winner. Fails the CBA test even more comprehensively than the Humber Bridge, but it's only money after all. Don't mock it, there are actually campaigns for a lower Tees fixed crossing. With a bridge being thought difficult to tie into the existing road network, a tunnel has been mooted. The arguments are that it would open up the Saltholme area to development. |
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Post by Davıd Boothroyd on Mar 16, 2021 19:51:59 GMT
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Merseymike
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Post by Merseymike on Mar 16, 2021 19:56:08 GMT
Very very quick timetable for Labour selection - applications closing tomorrow at 5pm, selection on Friday or Saturday. Good. But doesn't this rather suggest the imposition of so many candidates in 2017 and 2019 without proper selections was not necessary? Not a right-left issue, more a union stitch-up issue. I hope there will be a reasonable choice for the local party |
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Post by johnloony on Mar 16, 2021 20:14:26 GMT
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. There is something I find very noble about dying in post.
As long as they do it more than 6 months before a general election is due. |
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Post by johnloony on Mar 16, 2021 20:18:00 GMT
Hartlepool had the second highest Tory + Brexit Party percentage in a seat that wasn't won by the Tories. Barnsley East was slightly higher. Where does it come in the league table of the lowest % vote for the top two candidates combined? |
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Post by Andrew_S on Mar 16, 2021 20:24:21 GMT
Hartlepool had the second highest Tory + Brexit Party percentage in a seat that wasn't won by the Tories. Barnsley East was slightly higher. Where does it come in the league table of the lowest % vote for the top two candidates combined? Just checking. |
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