The Government Whips’ Office has a hit list of twenty MPs whom it wishes to see deselected, since that sort of thing is no longer considered any business of local parties, such as there still are in any case. Indeed, in David Miliband’s South Shields constituency, even local council candidates are chosen by his London office, three hundred miles away.
Eight names are now in the public domain: Diane Abbott (Hackney North), Kate Hoey (Vauxhall), Glenda Jackson (Hampstead), Bob Marshall-Andrews (Medway), John McDonnell (Hayes and Harlington), Marsha Singh (Bradford West), Paul Truswell (Pudsey) and Mike Wood (Batley and Spen).
The Whips appear not to know that Jackson has already been reselected, or that Marshall-Andrews has already announced his retirement. But the other six, together with the other twelve people on the hit list, should announce immediately their intention to defend their seats with or without the endorsement of the Labour Party. They would undoubtedly be successful, whereas several of them might not otherwise have been this time round.
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Is this in the public domain - online somewhere? A link would be useful . . .
ReplyDeleteIt was in the Mail on Sunday, and has been the subject of a post on Coffee House, which routinely puts up what every Westminster insider knows anyway, even without prior publication in a mass-circulation national newspaper. It is a matter of record.
ReplyDeleteJohn McDonnell would get the backing of the local Green Party, this I know from statements its members have made. He's a good bloke, so it's no wonder New Labour want shot of him!
ReplyDeleteDoes mean that they won't put up against him in his super-marginal seat?
ReplyDeleteMind you, he held on when most of those seats went back to the Tories last time.
The statement put out said the Greens should support him if he were to run as an independent - whereas in the past he may have stayed with Labour out of necessity (brand recognition from voters) as well as loyalty, there's a good argument for him to go it alone.
ReplyDeleteThe party leadership doesn't want him as an MP and he knows, as we all do, that inner-party democracy is virtually nonexistant. Added to which, traditional Labour voters are pissed off with the party.
I had hoped John would be able to challenge Brown to the leadership and that the result would have been to mobilise support in the party and unions behind pro-worker policies. The only option for such a campaign would have been to lead a group of MPs out of the party - switching to the Greens just as traditional Tories have switched to UKIP.
Obviously, this was the feared scenario - Labour MPs who should really have backed a leadership contest used the excuse that McDonnell was seeking to split the party from the left.
Now that the expenses scandal has broke and with it a rising tide of anger, John has nothing to lose - the Green Party leaders should welcome him with open arms if they are to maximize their Westminster representation.
He shouldn't join the Greens. But if they are prepared to back him as an independent, then all to the good.
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