There has been a right old spat going on in Sherwood constituency where Labour wannabe MPs are vying to become the party’s candidate.
Whoever wins will take over from Paddy Tipping MP who is standing down after suffering a heart attack earlier this year.
The local Labour group got in a tizzy when the ruling National Executive Committee decided the candidate should be chosen from an all woman shortlist.
That was despite local party members making it clear they didn’t want one. As if that wasn’t enough it seems the national party is favouring one female candidate in particular.
“I can smell a stitch up a mile away, and this stinks,” one local party member told me.
The favoured candidate is Emilie Oldknow who also happens to be the party’s East Midlands director – so could theoretically have a certain amount of influence over the selection process anyway.
Another candidate, Helen Holt, has now quit the race claiming the way applications were given out favoured Oldknow.
Just to put the cherry on the stitch-up cake, it turns out Oldknow is also going out with Jonathan Ashworth a Downing Street Advisor.
She may as well just wear a parachute to the selection contest.
Friday, 4 December 2009
A right old stitch up?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
7 comments:
Interesting but has anyone thought that Helen may not be up to the job.
Why is this a stitch up? The seat is not even a safe Labour seat and if the Labour Party wanted Emilie as a MP they would ensure that she got a safe seat. Obviously they are not involved.
I do not get involved with politics at a local level because of the games I see being played, particularly at branch and CLP level.
Emilie works very hard for the Labour Party and has supported Helen in the past, particularly when she became a County Councillor.
I think the whole thing is sour grapes by someone who can't admit that she has perhaps made a mistake and is not the best candidate.
How is it a 'parachute' when it's the seat Miss Oldknow grew up in, went to school in, has lived most of her life in and now just lives outside the seat in Mansfield? She doesnt need to put on a parachute she just needs to go out of her frontdoor and walk up the road and she's there!
How is it a stitch up when every member of the local party will get a vote?
"where a parachute"? Really?
learn to spell -
Under Labour Party rules it is impossible to parachute a candidate in. If the members of Sherwood constituency don't want someone, then they won't get one.
The members of Sherwood Labour Party not the high command will decide who the best woman is for the job, and if they choose Emilie, they will have chosen a formidable and worthwhile successor to the wonderful Paddy Tipping.
End of..
As a Sherwood Labour party member I can honestly say that this is not a safe seat and that Emilie Oldknow is as much a local candidate as Helen Holt and from what I have seen of both candidates Emilie is not only a little bit better than Helen but a whole lot better - it is strange that her [Helen] outburst only happened after she lost the first nomination panel (there were two others) - sour grapes spring to mind
thanks for sharing this post
DDS File Extension
Post a Comment