stb12
Top Poster
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Post by stb12 on Mar 14, 2024 2:41:05 GMT
Lagan Valley
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right
Conservative
Posts: 18,761
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Post by right on Mar 29, 2024 14:20:29 GMT
If his charge has legs Donaldson could be in real trouble here. Sorcha Eastwood was second last time for the Alliance and may be a decent anti incumbent choice as with East Belfast after the Robinsons scandal.
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stb12
Top Poster
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Post by stb12 on Mar 29, 2024 14:33:36 GMT
If his charge has legs Donaldson could be in real trouble here. Sorcha Eastwood was second last time for the Alliance and may be a decent anti incumbent choice as with East Belfast after the Robinsons scandal. Mentioned on another thread I don’t see how Donaldson can stand for the DUP, he’s suspended from the party and the GE is due in a matter of months. Unless the case collapses really quickly then there’s no way the legal proceedings will be over by then |
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Post by boondock on Mar 29, 2024 18:52:35 GMT
It's still likely over 6 mths to the general election so will they have a by election?
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Post by johnloony on Mar 29, 2024 19:34:35 GMT
It's still likely over 6 mths to the general election so will they have a by election? Presumably not. The fact that he has resigned as party leader, but not also as MP, must mean that he intends to contest the allegations, plead not guilty, and let it go to trial. If he is found not guilty, then he would be able to continue as MP in the normal way, just as Nigel Evans did. It is (from his point of view) that a general election is due within a few months anyway, in which case he will probably be deselected as candidate and lose his seat anyway, but that is an accident of timing. |
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Post by Davıd Boothroyd on Mar 29, 2024 20:09:07 GMT
I don't know how Northern Ireland is affected by the court delays which we have in England but unless the case collapses long before, it's basically unlikely this case will come to trial for at least a year and a half. Would anyone fancy running a re-election campaign for someone about to go on trial like that?
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YL
Non-Aligned
Either Labour leaning or Lib Dem leaning but not sure which
Posts: 4,905
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Post by YL on Mar 29, 2024 20:10:31 GMT
I don't know how Northern Ireland is affected by the court delays which we have in England but unless the case collapses long before, it's basically unlikely this case will come to trial for at least a year and a half. Would anyone fancy running a re-election campaign for someone about to go on trial like that? They did in North Devon in 1979, but I doubt it here. |
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Post by Davıd Boothroyd on Mar 29, 2024 20:11:02 GMT
I don't know how Northern Ireland is affected by the court delays which we have in England but unless the case collapses long before, it's basically unlikely this case will come to trial for at least a year and a half. Would anyone fancy running a re-election campaign for someone about to go on trial like that? They did in North Devon in 1979, but I doubt it here. Remind me how that one went. |
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stb12
Top Poster
Posts: 8,366
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Post by stb12 on Mar 30, 2024 7:37:02 GMT
Northern Ireland does have some history of independents winning and Donaldson has obviously represented Lagan Valley for a long time, but under these circumstances with the nature of the allegations it clearly won’t happen and he surely wouldn’t try
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Post by uthacalthing on Mar 30, 2024 13:13:18 GMT
The financial package for an MP retiring or losing as opposed to resigning is perhaps worth examining
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Post by eastmidlandsright on Mar 30, 2024 19:02:31 GMT
The financial package for an MP retiring or losing as opposed to resigning is perhaps worth examining There is no need to examine it. Being an MP is not a job it is public service. As such no one should profit from serving the public and no one should be paid because the public decide that they no longer wish someone to serve them. |
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J.G.Harston
Lib Dem
Leave-voting Brexit-supporting Liberal Democrat
Posts: 14,755
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Post by J.G.Harston on Mar 30, 2024 22:12:40 GMT
The financial package for an MP retiring or losing as opposed to resigning is perhaps worth examining There is no need to examine it. Being an MP is not a job it is public service. As such no one should profit from serving the public and no one should be paid because the public decide that they no longer wish someone to serve them. Therefore, being an MP should only be financially possible for the rich, and be barred to anybody who actually needs money in order to stay alive. |
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Post by eastmidlandsright on Mar 30, 2024 22:41:05 GMT
There is no need to examine it. Being an MP is not a job it is public service. As such no one should profit from serving the public and no one should be paid because the public decide that they no longer wish someone to serve them. Therefore, being an MP should only be financially possible for the rich, and be barred to anybody who actually needs money in order to stay alive. Correct. Those who can't afford to be an MP without being paid for it have no business sitting in Parliament. |
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Mar 30, 2024 22:52:41 GMT
We already have a legislative chamber for people of obscene inherited wealth we don't need another one
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Post by eastmidlandsright on Mar 30, 2024 22:58:50 GMT
We already have a legislative chamber for people of obscene inherited wealth we don't need another one Who said anything about inherited wealth. Plenty of us have managed to make enough money that we can devote a bit of time to public service if we wish. We would be much better at it than than the useless bunch of tosspots who need paying to do it. EDIT: And of course I would strongly encourage MPs to continue to do second jobs. |
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Post by uthacalthing on Mar 31, 2024 0:09:50 GMT
The financial package for an MP retiring or losing as opposed to resigning is perhaps worth examining There is no need to examine it. Being an MP is not a job it is public service. As such no one should profit from serving the public and no one should be paid because the public decide that they no longer wish someone to serve them. So speaks a man who is not currently in current Donaldsons position. I would offer him the same advice the I offered to Jared OMara and Margaret Ferrier He is ruined. No level of contrition or even the charges being refuted will change things. Tough it out, take the salary, clear debts, move to Staffordshire or Flint, ignore those who demand that you do the decent thing, they will give you no credit for doing so. |
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Post by Davıd Boothroyd on Apr 9, 2024 8:37:33 GMT
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stb12
Top Poster
Posts: 8,366
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Post by stb12 on Apr 9, 2024 9:46:58 GMT
I’m not sure that there’s any obvious replacement right now Edwin Poots was their main man in Lagan Valley before Donaldson defected but he’s moved to South Belfast and is now the Assembly Speaker so can’t imagine he’d be interested now. Emma Little-Pengelly got co-opted in of course but the deputy First Minister trying to go elsewhere is the last thing the DUP need right now. Then there’s Paul Givan as the other LV MLA but he’s got a ministerial position and I caught somewhere a few days ago that he’s apparently not interested in the travel to London at the moment due to family reasons So they’ll probably need to go down to the councillor base or find some sort of outsider candidate. The Alliance candidate Sorcha Eastwood is an MLA now and by most accounts seems like an impressive, fresh and young face that will put up a real fight for the seat |
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Post by markgoodair on Apr 9, 2024 9:48:48 GMT
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Post by East Anglian Lefty on Apr 9, 2024 9:55:50 GMT
The DUP have not historically been that interested in selecting local candidates - Sammy Wilson is a Belfast figure without any particular East Antrim connections; Iris Robinson was from Castlereagh rather than Strangford; Willie McCrea was from Mid Ulster and half the reason he lost South Antrim in 2015 was that he was clearly less than interested in his new seat. As they've got more establisment and developed a wider local base they've got slightly more localist, but again imposing Little-Pengelly in Lagan Valley and shifting Poots does show that that's far from a hard rule.
Plus this seat is Belfast suburbia anyway, so I'm not sure that the localist card plays as well here as it might do further out into the countryside. So it wouldn't be a shock if they pick an MLA from a different constituency.
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