It must be a dozen years since a very powerful local figure first told me that I'd be an Independent candidate here this time round, on account of an all-women shortlist. He said I'd win, too.
Well, I am told that at the most recent meeting of the Branch Labour Party that I chaired for many years, everyone except the County Council Chief Whip threatened to resign from the Party on account of the imposition of such a device, and even he merely said nothing. But if not in Hilary Armstrong's constituency, then where?
There is only one specific policy requirement in order to be on an all-women shortlist. You have to be in favour of abortion on demand up to and including partial birth. That opinion is now absolutely compulsory for the Labour candidate in a constituency in which the principal town is the old Irish Catholic stronghold of Consett, and which also contains the remarkable Recusant village of Esh, as well as Ushaw College, with the great Passionist monastery at Minsteracres only just outside, so that Consett is its postal town.
Don't vote baby-butchering New Labour, be those babies in Britain or in Baghdad. Vote pro-life, pro-family, pro-worker and anti-war. Vote for David Lindsay.
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"There is only one specific policy requirement in order to be on an all-women shortlist. You have to be in favour of abortion on demand up to and including partial birth."
ReplyDeleteThis isn't true. For example, Geraldine Smith was selected via an all-women shortlist.
Not only wasn't she, but she's against them generally, even without this requirement. As she made clear again this weekend.
ReplyDeleteDavid Lindsay:
ReplyDelete"Vote clerical-fascist, vote unwanted pregancy, vote for the Antonio Tejero of County Durham"
Indeed TWO CHEERS for Geraldine Smith .........sane voice on adoption rights and parenthood(sic) for "Gay People" and on the side of the angels on the Chinese migrant thing.
ReplyDeletePity she is pro War.
So two cheers only.
BDJ:
ReplyDelete"a constituency in which the principal town is the old Irish Catholic stronghold of Consett, and which also contains the remarkable Recusant village of Esh, as well as Ushaw College, with the great Passionist monastery at Minsteracres only just outside, so that Consett is its postal town.
Don't vote baby-butchering New Labour, be those babies in Britain or in Baghdad. Vote pro-life, pro-family, pro-worker and anti-war. Vote for David Lindsay."
See you on the stump.
David, a word of advice from someone who's been about a bit - you seem to think that calling your opponents baby-killers makes them look bad and you look good. Consider that it might instead make you look unhinged, and them look like they're being viciously attacked by a frothing loon. I know that isn't the case, but you do have to consider appearances.
ReplyDeleteThis constituency does not contain either Notting Hill or Primrose Hill. It does, however, contain - well, see above.
ReplyDeletePro-life is a pillar of my campaign. So is pro-family. So is pro-worker. And so is anti-war. That's why, and how, I'm going to win.
I'm not objecting to your campaign pillars, David. I'm saying that as a piece of political rhetoric, "They're all baby-killers" hasn't been effective since 1914.
ReplyDeleteWe shall see.
ReplyDeleteIt is of course right and proper that everyone entering an Election should publicly talk up their chances of victory while their private stance might be more realistic.
ReplyDeleteSurely we have all seen enough campaigns where all parties confidently predict Victory only to admit to Michael Crick on Election night that they never really thought they would win.
As a seasoned observer of Elections I firmly believe you will be elected MP.
Deep down I suspect you know this yourself.
Abusing opponents IS actually a good idea. Abusing potential voters is NOT a good idea.
A more "calculated" stance will not get you elected but it will get you more votes.
The insistence that you will win (in spite of the overwhelming odds and evidence) DOES make people question your often surprisingly well reasoned political case.
If I was actually a resident of North West Durham I might well be tempted to vote for you because of your attitude to the War,REAL civil rights, one nation etc.
Of course your attitude to Empire/Commonwealth/Monarchy/Ireland would be deal breakers.
Oh, I have no doubt that I will win. If you knew the people at whose suggestions I was standing, then nor would you have any such doubt.
ReplyDeleteThis constituency currently (or in some cases always) has, shall we say, a number of local circumstances that are in my favour. Quite a number, in fact.
oops.....looks like I messed up the previous post. As I hope you noted from the overall context.....I FIRMLY BELIEVE YOU WILL NOT BE ELECTED A MP.
ReplyDeleteSorry about that.
And I firmly believe that I will be.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I can't yet set out on here all the reasons why. But there are plenty of them.
There may be. But there are also - how can I put it - compelling reasons why you won't be:
ReplyDelete1. You will have very, very low name recognition. I'd be staggered if its more than 1%.
2. You won't get any media coverage, or certainly less than the main parties in NW Durham. (This is an important one to note, as it will undoubtedly be the reason you blame not winning after the election, as you now do with No2EU)
3. You have no money to fight an election with (I mean by standards of what campaigns have normally)
4. You have no supporting infrastructure to leaflet, knock on doors, run you around the place in a car etc. You can't even drive yourself, I believe.
5. No one - literally no one - votes on personality, and hardly anyone votes on a particular platform. They vote on party lines. Always have done, always will do. There is a mountain of empirical data to prove this.
These are all compelling reasons. And the way I know these are compelling are because these are the obstacles faced by all independent candidates, in any seat, ever.
They all - like you - claim that they are different. They all - like you - claim there are local factors which make them a shoo in. They all - like you - think they are on the precipice of a new movement.
But they aren't. And you aren't.
If you only knew...
ReplyDeleteYou'll see soon enough, of course. But not yet.
Pan - Labour will have to bus in its paid employees to leaflet against David in several wards or maybe even all of them. The leaflets will still get delivered but not by that councillor the old lady has known since he was a baby or whatever. He'll deliver David's. The machine still exists but half its cogs have now left Labour and David is their candidate.
ReplyDeleteAnd the other half won't stay if there is an all-women shortlist. But if there isn't one in Hilary Armstrong's seat, then there can never be another one anywhere.
ReplyDeleteOh, and then there's the candidate it is apparently on course to produce. Money...
Anyway, all will be revealed in due season.
Media coverage is no longer a problem, Pan.
ReplyDeleteWe've always known it would be you and we've always known it would be like this. Who the hell else are we now supposed to vote for? The names in the frame are laughable. Plus New Labour has betrayed us by abolishing the Distict Council as badly as Thatcher betrayed us by closing the pits and the steelworks. Worse in fact. We expected better from a Labour government.
ReplyDeleteDavid isn't really an Independent. He's the candidate of the local Labour party against the non-socialist national Labour party and the candidate of the local "Independent" Tory party against the non-conservative national Tory party. The locals are the ones here on the ground getting the vote out. David is going to win.
ReplyDelete