It is now more than two years since the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party effectively abolished the Constituency Labour Party in North West Durham by denying it any role in the selection of its parliamentary candidate. It then imposed a 29-year-old who had never set foot here, and of whom next to no one here had ever heard.
Soon afterwards, she lost her seat on Northumberland County Council. I was present when she received that news, at the count for Durham County Council, where she was being introduced as the all-done-and-dusted Prospective Parliamentary Candidate to stalwarts who did not even know her name, but several of whom had already bought me drinks.
For some years by then, certain of them had been introducing me at funerals as, "The man who should have been our MP." Everyone does that now, and there no longer even needs to have been a death. They also call me "Speedboat", as in, "Here's what you could have won."
But I am a generous old soul. So I invite in the comments specific examples of the achievements of Laura Pidcock MP. So far on Twitter, I have been treated to "more than you", but impossible to specify; and "worked as a mental health support worker, marched against Thatcher as a kid", which adds up to "once had a job, taken on a march when she cannot have been older than three". She and her supporters are going to have to do a lot better than that, since every seat will be a marginal next time.
This post will appear daily until the second anniversary of the 2017 General Election. Beyond that, another hung Parliament is coming, and we need our people to hold the balance of power in it. It has become a local commonplace that I am on 30-30-30 with Labour and the Conservatives here at North West Durham, so that any one of us could be the First Past the Post. I will stand for this seat, if I can raise the £10,000 necessary to mount a serious campaign. Please email davidaslindsay@hotmail.com. Very many thanks.
Soon afterwards, she lost her seat on Northumberland County Council. I was present when she received that news, at the count for Durham County Council, where she was being introduced as the all-done-and-dusted Prospective Parliamentary Candidate to stalwarts who did not even know her name, but several of whom had already bought me drinks.
For some years by then, certain of them had been introducing me at funerals as, "The man who should have been our MP." Everyone does that now, and there no longer even needs to have been a death. They also call me "Speedboat", as in, "Here's what you could have won."
But I am a generous old soul. So I invite in the comments specific examples of the achievements of Laura Pidcock MP. So far on Twitter, I have been treated to "more than you", but impossible to specify; and "worked as a mental health support worker, marched against Thatcher as a kid", which adds up to "once had a job, taken on a march when she cannot have been older than three". She and her supporters are going to have to do a lot better than that, since every seat will be a marginal next time.
This post will appear daily until the second anniversary of the 2017 General Election. Beyond that, another hung Parliament is coming, and we need our people to hold the balance of power in it. It has become a local commonplace that I am on 30-30-30 with Labour and the Conservatives here at North West Durham, so that any one of us could be the First Past the Post. I will stand for this seat, if I can raise the £10,000 necessary to mount a serious campaign. Please email davidaslindsay@hotmail.com. Very many thanks.
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