This Once Great Movement Of Ours

[CumbrianLefty]

Yeah, he's not going to do that.

[beesley]

I don't think that was intended as a serious comment anyway.

[Blair]

Big Labour news.

Cllr Steve Forbes, the leader of Newcastle Council and a member of the NEC has been deselected from his ward in Newcastle.

He is a major figure in Labour Local Government circles and a close ally of Starmer.

Guardian reporting he was in a feud with Ex-chief whip Nick Brown. He didn’t stand a chance.

[Cassius]

Big Labour news.

Cllr Steve Forbes, the leader of Newcastle Council and a member of the NEC has been deselected from his ward in Newcastle.

He is a major figure in Labour Local Government circles and a close ally of Starmer.

Guardian reporting he was in a feud with Ex-chief whip Nick Brown. He didn’t stand a chance.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

There appear to have been some procedural irregularities which might yet save him (we shall see), but I would definitely not get in a feud with Nick Brown if I were a councillor in Newcastle facing re-selection.

[Blair]

There appear to have been some procedural irregularities which might yet save him (we shall see), but I would definitely not get in a feud with Nick Brown if I were a councillor in Newcastle facing re-selection.

I did think turnout was low for the ward (16 votes cast) but I can remember going to pre Corbyn trigger ballot meetings with 7 members (including the MPs office manager!)

[Secretary of State Liberal Hack]

There appear to have been some procedural irregularities which might yet save him (we shall see), but I would definitely not get in a feud with Nick Brown if I were a councillor in Newcastle facing re-selection.

I did think turnout was low for the ward (16 votes cast) but I can remember going to pre Corbyn trigger ballot meetings with 7 members (including the MPs office manager!)

You can deselect an MP with 7 members ?

[CumbrianLefty]

No, but it is different for councillors.

It is looking quite possible that Forbes will now stand in another winnable seat for Labour.

[Blair]

For all the handwringing in the Jc years it is always councillors who are most at risk- they’re more likely to be in power, they lack the ability to woo members and they don’t have a paid staff who makes them look good. MPs can also imo gerrymander selections in creative ways!

The most branch or CLP disputes will always be about planning applications, school closures or parks- all belong to the local authority!

[Secretary of State Liberal Hack]

Who's going to win the game of chicken between labour and Unite ?

[Torrain]

So, um, Rosie Duffield is doing this:

Labour MP Rosie Duffield: Keir Starmer is no better than Jeremy Corbyn and it almost made me defect

Sir Keir Starmer is no better than Jeremy Corbyn in failing to speak up for MPs who are being bullied on social media, a leading Labour MP says today.

Rosie Duffield, the Labour MP for Canterbury, accused her leader of failing to do enough to stop a minority of local activists who have mounted a campaign of harassment against her.

Ms Duffield, who won the seat from the Tories for the first time in a century at the 2017 election, admitted that she had been "tempted" to defect to the Conservatives because of Sir Keir's apparent indifference to her plight.

Whatever your views on her, well views, this fees a tad odd. Openly admitting you considered defection to the Conservatives, in this environment just feels like a total miscalculation. And while Christian Wakeford may be able to cobble together a coalition at the next election, it feels like it might be harder for Duffield, given that most of her voters are students, who aren’t exactly known for being forgiving or dropping political grudges (see tuition fees, and the near total collapse of Lib Dem representation in university seats).

Have to imagine this might be too much for many of her key voters. It’s almost like she wants to get deselected at this point.

To be fair - she does say that joining the Conservatives would be incongruous with her views on immigration and Brexit. But she must know what the optics of giving this interview, and the two sentences from it that will trend online…

And to be clear, no one deserves harassment, and from the tenor of debate on university campuses (where I’ve studied and worked since 2016), I can well believe she’s had a targeted campaign against her. I can understand why she feels harangued. I just think this interview might be a self-inflicted wound, especially given the further barrage of vitriol this is likely to unleash.

[Conservatopia]

I think Duffield is a fantastic, brave MP but this interview is a giant miscalculation.

[Blair]

It comes across awfully as it seems to suggest the main concernis remaining as an MP!

I’ve only read the extracts but it’s bizarre that she suggests Keir is too focused on unifying the part- he’s very happy to take on the left when he needs to!

She then says he should be doing more to deal with party members- but I’m not sure what she expects him to do as the EHRC report was very clear that the Leader can’t call up HQ and say ‘suspend X,Y,Z’.

If she wanted to leave Labour and becoming independent then that is fine- it often happens and there are certainly occasions when I would theoretically struggle to keep the Labour whip but I’d never then join the Conservatives!

[Secretary of State Liberal Hack]

Neil Coyle has the whip removed for racist remarks towards a journalist

https://twitter.com/BritainElects/status/1492088640348073984?s=20&t=z_Jt1nEy0UK9WkXKepqc-w

[Filuwaúrdjan]

He's also been barred from all bars on the Parliamentary Estate for six months...

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Is Coyne a particularly colorful figure, by Westminster standards?

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Is Coyne a particularly colorful figure, by Westminster standards?

If you mean 'is he a drunk?', then by this point I don't think even he would deny that.

[Blair]

Kate Green, the former Shadow Education Minister, is retiring.

She is unlike the others quitting in that she is younger (but still 61!) and not from the right- but she seems very much like someone who doesn’t particularly enjoy Westminster- while enjoying public policy.

Her seat creates an opening in Manchester- and a very safe one. Suggestions Hangem and Burnham might go for it but who knows.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Is Coyne a particularly colorful figure, by Westminster standards?

If you mean 'is he a drunk?', then by this point I don't think even he would deny that.

I saw his Wikipedia and they talked about his...colorful language. Since those are just parts of the assessment and I had no yardstick to compare him overall, I wondered...

[Secretary of State Liberal Hack]

I think he was one of the few mps at risk of being deselect in 2019

[Torrain]

Kate Green, the former Shadow Education Minister, is retiring.

She is unlike the others quitting in that she is younger (but still 61!) and not from the right- but she seems very much like someone who doesn’t particularly enjoy Westminster- while enjoying public policy.

Her seat creates an opening in Manchester- and a very safe one. Suggestions Hangem and Burnham might go for it but who knows.

The interesting thing about 2024, is that we don’t just have a GE scheduled, the mayoral elections in Manchester and London are also up. Surely there’s a not implausible situation where both Khan and/or Burnham decline their mayoralty and return to the Commons?

If Labour come up short in 2024 (and while their numbers have been good in 2022, 2024 is an unknown country), and Keir falls on his sword, could either be plausible replacements? I think Burnham may more sense as a leader (please, let’s have a Labour frontbench that doesn’t revolve around London), but both could give a lot to the shadow cabinet.

[CumbrianLefty]

I think he was one of the few mps at risk of being deselect in 2019

Yes, there was a major operation from the Labour To Win brigade to save him.

[CumbrianLefty]

I think Duffield is a fantastic, brave MP but this interview is a giant miscalculation.

Future studies will cite Duffield as a classic example regarding the dangers of online radicalisation.

[JimJamUK]

Leaving aside the morality/optics, if Duffield's main concern is ending the social media abuse then i'm not sure becoming a Conservative MP is the solution...

[Blair]

Kate Green, the former Shadow Education Minister, is retiring.

She is unlike the others quitting in that she is younger (but still 61!) and not from the right- but she seems very much like someone who doesn’t particularly enjoy Westminster- while enjoying public policy.

Her seat creates an opening in Manchester- and a very safe one. Suggestions Hangem and Burnham might go for it but who knows.

The interesting thing about 2024, is that we don’t just have a GE scheduled, the mayoral elections in Manchester and London are also up. Surely there’s a not implausible situation where both Khan and/or Burnham decline their mayoralty and return to the Commons?

If Labour come up short in 2024 (and while their numbers have been good in 2022, 2024 is an unknown country), and Keir falls on his sword, could either be plausible replacements? I think Burnham may more sense as a leader (please, let’s have a Labour frontbench that doesn’t revolve around London), but both could give a lot to the shadow cabinet.

I wouldn’t be shocked if either return- but both will depend on Labours fortunes. Sadiq Khan would no doubt like to be mayor with a Labour Government and the powers/fund that came with it- but he’s equally popular enough with Keir to justify a cabinet position, although I wouldn’t be shocked if this is via the Lords. He will know that London mayors tend to expire quite badly…

I think Burnham might have changed his mind if he sees Keir and his project as stronger or at least as strong as it is atm- he was at his highest when Keirs stock was lowest. He has also pissed off a number of MPs over his conference antics (he was blatant even for THIGMOO standards)  Lisa Nandy having a domestic profile on levelling you makes it harder too for him.

It’s a funny change of events as Sadiq was once hated by the Labour right for running as the Corbyn candidate and beating Tessa Jowell in the Mayoral selection where as Andy was the original Blairite golden boy in 2010!