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Post by finsobruce on Jul 14, 2024 9:16:35 GMT
Losing both Worthing seats feels almost personal to me. My father was born in the town, and it seems ironic that Labour won them both just six weeks after he passed away. Who would have thought it when it was not so long ago that they had no local representation at all? It was always the Lib Dems who were the bigger threat and used to run the council. I haven’t visited since 2005 when my grandfather passed away and we moved my grandmother up to Yorkshire to live closer to us. Has it become more raffish and studenty like Brighton has? I prefer to remember it as it was when I was growing up, and it being a seaside resort was always a bonus, although the fact the beach is shingle rather than sand was always a bit of a let down.. 'Raffish'. Now there's a word you don't hear much anymore.  |
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Post by Davıd Boothroyd on Jul 14, 2024 9:17:41 GMT
It's good to see Peter Bottomley out on his arse after chicken running from Eltham all those years ago. Poetic justice. 1. That was years ago 2. He was Father of the House so not exactly thrown out at the first time of asking Bottomley served longer as MP for Worthing (27 years) than as MP for Woolwich West / Eltham (22 years). |
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Post by carlton43 on Jul 14, 2024 10:23:37 GMT
Losing both Worthing seats feels almost personal to me. My father was born in the town, and it seems ironic that Labour won them both just six weeks after he passed away. Who would have thought it when it was not so long ago that they had no local representation at all? It was always the Lib Dems who were the bigger threat and used to run the council. I haven’t visited since 2005 when my grandfather passed away and we moved my grandmother up to Yorkshire to live closer to us. Has it become more raffish and studenty like Brighton has? I prefer to remember it as it was when I was growing up, and it being a seaside resort was always a bonus, although the fact the beach is shingle rather than sand was always a bit of a let down.. 'Raffish'. Now there's a word you don't hear much anymore. It was used a lot in my youth but as lax morals spread through a significant minority of the population in the 60s and 70s it evaporated as 'out of time'. The raffia was a good term for those new members and many of us thought they could get knotted! |
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Post by Devil Wincarnate on Jul 14, 2024 10:52:18 GMT
It's good to see Peter Bottomley out on his arse after chicken running from Eltham all those years ago. Poetic justice. 1. That was years ago 2. He was Father of the House so not exactly thrown out at the first time of asking Once upon a time, moving from South London to Worthing would have been absolutely in line with the voters. |
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Post by finsobruce on Jul 14, 2024 11:48:02 GMT
1. That was years ago 2. He was Father of the House so not exactly thrown out at the first time of asking Once upon a time, moving from South London to Worthing would have been absolutely in line with the voters. "To lose one constituency in Worthing may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness." |
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Post by johnloony on Jul 14, 2024 12:25:18 GMT
Once upon a time, moving from South London to Worthing would have been absolutely in line with the voters. "To lose one constituency in Worthing may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness." Whenever Margaret Thatcher went to campaign in Worthing, she always remembered her handbag. |
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nyx
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Post by nyx on Jul 14, 2024 13:58:13 GMT
1. That was years ago 2. He was Father of the House so not exactly thrown out at the first time of asking Once upon a time, moving from South London to Worthing would have been absolutely in line with the voters. Surely it still is. Isn't young people moving from London down to Worthing the main reason it started to become more Labour-inclined? |
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Post by batman on Jul 14, 2024 17:41:34 GMT
Ouch! I was thinking another parallel with Skinner is the constituency ‘moving away from him’ - in 2019 it was said that Bolsover of course doesn’t have (m)any miners and fewer union workers - meanwhile over here, isn’t Worthing becoming the new Brighton? So younger people, graduates, public sector, definitely not conservative and perhaps a bit of ageism. Back in 1997 I’d assume Worthing probably would have been older and full of retirees and I’d assume Bottomley may have been a good fit back then, his age back then probably would have been on par with the average age of Worthing! If he was chosen by the local party fair and square, say if they wanted a man of experience then I can respect him more than Holden, that’s for sure. Sir George Young was another notable chicken-runner in 1997 (Acton to NW Hants). This did attract some adverse comment, as I recall; but nothing like the criticism heaped upon Richard Holden. I think in Holden's case the offence was aggravated by the fact that he was Party Chairman, the implication being that he could pull strings on his own behalf.
Regarding Sir Peter Bottomley, he was a distinguished public servant who worked hard on some issues that I also feel strongly about (such as the unfair and exploitative treatment to which residential leaseholders are often subject). He was also one of the famous 14 Tory MPs who refused to support the Johnson government's outrageous attempt to overturn the Standards Commissioner's report on Owen Paterson. So I feel regret at his defeat, although this is tempered by the recognition that I'd have voted against him if I lived in Worthing W (because fundamentally a GE is about choosing a government, and the choice of MP merely a means to that end).
Bottomley’s seat was still notionally Conservative after the boundary changes. Sir George Young’s wasn’t. |
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CatholicLeft
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Post by CatholicLeft on Jul 14, 2024 22:34:43 GMT
Beccy Cooper is quite an impressive political figure. From becoming the first Labour councillor in Worthing in four decades in 2017 to being the leader of Worthing council in 2022 leading a Labour majority administration, and now becoming MP for a constituency that's never voted Labour before whilst unseating the Father of the House in the process. That's not bad work for a period of seven years. I remember her victory in Marine ward back in 2017 (was it really that long ago?), and her campaign on the back of her first candidature in West Worthing in the June 2017 General Election, seemed significant. She has created and driven a remarkable electoral machine. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2024 7:52:46 GMT
Once upon a time, moving from South London to Worthing would have been absolutely in line with the voters. Surely it still is. Isn't young people moving from London down to Worthing the main reason it started to become more Labour-inclined? Presumably it was once much more retirees and is now much more young people starting families (with the latter group probably more firmly Labour than it has been in the past)? |
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Post by noorderling on Jul 15, 2024 7:59:48 GMT
Surely it still is. Isn't young people moving from London down to Worthing the main reason it started to become more Labour-inclined? Presumably it was once much more retirees and is now much more young people starting families (with the latter group probably more firmly Labour than it has been in the past)? The fact that the local Lib Dems, who were the opposition to the Tories, fell out amongst themselves must have helped. |
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Post by aargauer on Jul 15, 2024 8:25:51 GMT
Worthing is actually a portmanteau of 'Worth' and 'targeting' (for the Labour Party, anyway). 95% of respondents think Peter Bottomley is going down to defeat. That's quite something. It can't just be my ramping Labour's chance in this simply sublime slice of Sussex seaside. Really? Worthing? |
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right
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Post by right on Jul 15, 2024 8:40:43 GMT
I’m not convinced that chicken running in general really matters much beyond heavily politically engaged people and party activists and ultimately it’s about the national picture, even with the Holden scenario the area/region where his new seat is had a very strong Reform performance so the result being so narrow just matched up with that essentially Although I don’t rule out that there may be the odd local scenario that’s strong enough for it to have an influence I think it can be dispiriting on the activists left behind and to a lesser extent the activists in the new seat. It also can be quite potent in opposition literature, either your MP has deserted you or look at this carpet bagger with no interest in the constituency. I've seen the effect of chicken runs in 1997 and parachuting in the current election and it does take a toll on the activists and appears in opposition literature, although that can be repaired quite a lot given some time (which most chicken runs had in 79 but not this time round) One of the signs that Rishi had lost it was that chicken running went on regardless. After 97 there had been an effective ban on the chicken run, and a number of good Tory MPs who could be argued to have been lost through that - although marginal seats were probably saved as well. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2024 15:50:07 GMT
Worthing is actually a portmanteau of 'Worth' and 'targeting' (for the Labour Party, anyway). 95% of respondents think Peter Bottomley is going down to defeat. That's quite something. It can't just be my ramping Labour's chance in this simply sublime slice of Sussex seaside. Really? Worthing? Yes. You get more for your money than in Brighton and there are some lovely Art Deco buildings, including the 1933 town hall. |
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Post by ccoleman on Jul 15, 2024 15:53:08 GMT
Worthing's okay, but I think 'simply sublime' is a bit excessive. There are very few coastal towns in the UK that I would describe as such.
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Post by aargauer on Jul 15, 2024 16:01:10 GMT
Worthing's okay, but I think 'simply sublime' is a bit excessive. There are very few coastal towns in the UK that I would describe as such. Salcombe, Padstow, Bamburgh. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2024 16:03:31 GMT
Worthing's okay, but I think 'simply sublime' is a bit excessive. There are very few coastal towns in the UK that I would describe as such. Of ones I've been to: Brighton, Hove, Stonehaven, Christchurch are all sublime in their way. Whitby's pretty decent, |
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Post by carlton43 on Jul 15, 2024 16:04:51 GMT
Worthing's okay, but I think 'simply sublime' is a bit excessive. There are very few coastal towns in the UK that I would describe as such. Applecross |
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Post by ccoleman on Jul 15, 2024 17:30:27 GMT
Robin Hood’s Bay is quite lovely too. Absolutely swarmed with tourists at this time of year though.
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Post by heslingtonian on Jul 15, 2024 17:34:46 GMT
Worthing's okay, but I think 'simply sublime' is a bit excessive. There are very few coastal towns in the UK that I would describe as such. Salcombe, Padstow, Bamburgh. Dartmouth, Sidmouth, Aldeburgh, Southwold, Bexhill and St Ives are personal favourites of mine. |
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