Sunday 19 April 2020

Falling Upwards With Anneliese Dodds

Being older than Anneliese Dodds is another very good reason to retire from contesting elections. Not that a spectacular lack of success has ever troubled her.

She was obviously never going to win Billericay at the pointless General Election of 2005, which was held purely because it was "due" rather than because there was either any difference between the parties, or any doubt which of them was going to win. Party members, of whom I was one at the time, should have been made to pay for that Election, rather than have the State pick up the tab for our weird hobby.

In 2006, Dodds failed to win the seat of Holywell on Oxford City Council. But hope seemed to be at hand, since in 2005, Labour had lost Reading East by a mere 475 votes. In 2010, however, Dodds took the party to third place.

Understandably, she did not put up in 2015. Yet in 2017, she was given Oxford East, which had been Labour for 30 years. She did manage to hold onto that. And look at her now. I mean, seriously. Look at her now.

Look at the Labour Party's candidate for Chancellor of the Exchequer. Look at the face of right-wing opposition to this Government's economic programme, which is well to the left of the one on which Labour fought last year's General Election. Look. And weep.

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