HanoiVillan Posted March 16, 2021 Share Posted March 16, 2021 I just don't see the point of Keir Starmer doing all his big 'I'm listening' stuff to leave voters if the plan is to run someone so obviously connected to the remain campaign in a seat that voted roughly 70% leave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted March 16, 2021 Moderator Share Posted March 16, 2021 Posted as a counter balance to some of the other polls that have been posted. (I'm not a particular fan of the councillor that posted it, he's a tit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HanoiVillan Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 A couple of snapshots from the last Hartlepool by-election in 2004, when Peter Mandelson resigned to become an EU Commissioner. Back then, the Lib Dems were on the up, using the twin issues of the Iraq War and the planned closure of the local hospital to seriously challenge Labour. And they recruited a seemingly good candidate named Jody Dunn, but she was not the best at keeping her thoughts to herself online: 'Jody Dunn is a 35-year-old barrister. For seven years she was a DJ, before studying and sitting her A-levels in six weeks, taking a first from St Andrews, winning the European debating championships, and graduating from bar school in the top 15 in the country. Fluent in three languages, she has written two books and a regular newspaper column. She also has four children under the age of 10, and the blonde good looks of a TV presenter. So eager were the team to show off their candidate that they borrowed an idea from American elections and set up a blog, an internet diary Dunn has written every night of the campaign. It was the first ever candidate blog in a British election, and a risky experiment - perhaps more risky than anyone realised, for it may yet prove to have cost her the election. But the discovery of its perils was still weeks away, and the blog was launched as a symbol of the campaign's extravagantly accessible ethos. [...] The third assault was a devastating surprise. On August 27, Dunn had written in her blog about a dispiriting evening out canvassing with Simon Hughes. "It didn't just rain last night, it poured," she wrote. "In fact the evening became one of the more farcical moments of the campaign. We'd picked what appeared at first to be a fairly standard row of houses. As time went on however, we began to realise that everyone we met was either drunk, flanked by an angry dog or undressed." The blog had continued with a joke about how Dunn looked like Worzel Gummidge in the rain. Ed Fordham had checked the copy as usual before posting it online. Nothing he read had sounded alarm bells. The Labour printing machines turned again, and this time Hartlepool woke up to the news on its doormat that Dunn had accused them all of being "either drunk, flanked by an angry dog, or undressed".' from: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2004/sep/28/byelections.uk 2004! I started my own blog in 2004 as well. Feels like another world. Dunn didn't just have her own indiscretions; she faced some absolutely reprehensible slurs from a guy who later became a Main Character: 'The two parties are waging a fierce battle in the contest triggered by the departure of Peter Mandelson. Sir Menzies Campbell has taken the unusual step of writing to Ian McCartney asking for Labour’s “personalised and misguided” attacks to stop. Sir Menzies said it was unacceptable for Labour to accuse their candidate, Jody Dunn, of “making excuses for junkies” just because, as a barrister, she represented them in court. He said: “This attack has gone beyond what is reasonable, even in a hard-fought by-election.” Tom Watson, the Labour MP, who has been acting as the campaign manager in Hartlepool, has accused Ms Dunn of being “soft on drugs” because she represented a heroin addict in court four years ago. “How many other junkies has she made excuses for in court?” said Mr Watson.' from The Times originally, but the link is dead so you can see it here: https://bloodandtreasure.typepad.com/blood_treasure/2004/08/story_of_a_char.html Tom Watson is such a terrible excuse for a human being. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted March 17, 2021 Moderator Share Posted March 17, 2021 Sorry all I read there was Liberals, getting treated like they’ve treated everyone else for decades Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dAVe80 Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 It is worth pointing out that the people of Hartlepool once voted for a man dressed as a monkey to be their mayor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted March 17, 2021 Moderator Share Posted March 17, 2021 1 hour ago, dAVe80 said: It is worth pointing out that the people of Hartlepool once voted for a man dressed as a monkey to be their mayor. 3 times! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davkaus Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 They must want to live in a banana republic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted March 17, 2021 Moderator Share Posted March 17, 2021 32 minutes ago, Davkaus said: They must want to live in a banana republic. To be fair he was Hartlepool FC's Club Mascot And in his first campaign, which he didn't remotely expect to win (it was a publicity stunt for the club) part of his manifesto was free bananas for kids! He was elected 3 election cycles running and was in power for 12 years Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HanoiVillan Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 3 minutes ago, bickster said: To be fair he was Hartlepool FC's Club Mascot And in his first campaign, which he didn't remotely expect to win (it was a publicity stunt for the club) part of his manifesto was free bananas for kids! He was elected 3 election cycles running and was in power for 12 years This is true, but what he then did was win the election, take off the monkey costume, put on a suit, and claim that a budget crisis meant that he couldn't follow through on his one campaign commitment. Politicians are all the same, even when they're actually your club mascot. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ml1dch Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 7 minutes ago, HanoiVillan said: This is true, but what he then did was win the election, take off the monkey costume, put on a suit, and claim that a budget crisis meant that he couldn't follow through on his one campaign commitment. It's like the vaudeville play version of Boris Johnson's political career. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp65 Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 One off ‘thank you’ £500 bonus to all NHS and Social Care staff, unconnected to current pay round. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ml1dch Posted March 18, 2021 Share Posted March 18, 2021 On 16/03/2021 at 20:23, dAVe80 said: Paul Williams seems to be the front runner Quite a way in front, it would presumably appear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HanoiVillan Posted March 18, 2021 Share Posted March 18, 2021 That's some bullshit. Well, since it doesn't matter anyway, I hope the Tories take it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blandy Posted March 18, 2021 Moderator Share Posted March 18, 2021 17 minutes ago, HanoiVillan said: That's some bullshit. Well, since it doesn't matter anyway, I hope the Tories take it. I always knew, secretly..... But seriously, (in general terms) this is why Labour has so many problems. The "I'd rather the Tories won than a Labour bod I don't personally approve of/whatever reason". You're quite entitled to that view, it's legitimate etc. and you're (in a nice way) just a bod on the internet, not a party member or whatever. But still the view you have isn't unique to you - the anti Corbyn faction had it, the Corbyn faction had it.....cats in a sack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HanoiVillan Posted March 18, 2021 Share Posted March 18, 2021 Just now, blandy said: I always knew, secretly..... But seriously, (in general terms) this is why Labour has so many problems. The "I'd rather the Tories won than a Labour bod I don't personally approve of/whatever reason". You're quite entitled to that view, it's legitimate etc. and you're (in a nice way) just a bod on the internet, not a party member or whatever. But still the view you have isn't unique to you - the anti Corbyn faction had it, the Corbyn faction had it.....cats in a sack. I mean it has absolutely nothing to do with me one way or another. I don't live in Hartlepool. And if I did, I wouldn't actually *vote* Tory, I would vote for someone else as a protest. But I have no desire to see Labour rewarded for their endless anti-democratic bullshit. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ml1dch Posted March 18, 2021 Share Posted March 18, 2021 6 minutes ago, blandy said: I always knew, secretly..... But seriously, (in general terms) this is why Labour has so many problems. The "I'd rather the Tories won than a Labour bod I don't personally approve of/whatever reason". You're quite entitled to that view, it's legitimate etc. and you're (in a nice way) just a bod on the internet, not a party member or whatever. But still the view you have isn't unique to you - the anti Corbyn faction had it, the Corbyn faction had it.....cats in a sack. Without wanting to speak for him, I'm guessing that it's the process rather than the individual that he is taking issue with. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HanoiVillan Posted March 18, 2021 Share Posted March 18, 2021 Just now, ml1dch said: Without wanting to speak for him, I'm guessing that it's the process rather than the individual that he is taking issue with. Mostly; the individual seems like a bad candidate too to be honest, but if he was selected democratically I would support the outcome of a democratic process. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blandy Posted March 18, 2021 Moderator Share Posted March 18, 2021 14 minutes ago, ml1dch said: Without wanting to speak for him, I'm guessing that it's the process rather than the individual that he is taking issue with. Yeah - I understand - my work computer doesn't show the tweets people quote, so I can't see what the reason/thing is - which is why I wrote "'/whatever" after "bod". My comments just that while Labour (the Party) and/or it's supporters are inclined to hope the Tory wins (in some instances) they're really not in a good place as a Political Party. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted March 18, 2021 Moderator Share Posted March 18, 2021 Sorry, I'm confused, why is it a long list of one? Who is producing the long-list? I'm presuming the local party officials have the input here? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HanoiVillan Posted March 18, 2021 Share Posted March 18, 2021 20 minutes ago, bickster said: Sorry, I'm confused, why is it a long list of one? Who is producing the long-list? I'm presuming the local party officials have the input here? The background is here: This email leaked yesterday. (Worth noting (I don't think it shows in the preview pane) the quote 'It seems clear that the party and Paul aren't quite as well informed as we'd like them to be re. the town and our electorate'.) So to answer your point, it appears that 'local party officials' - actually specifically the head of the CLP - have simply decided not to bother with any sort of selection process. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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