For over 30 years, I have been an inveterate fan of by-elections. The best one was in Chesterfield in 1984 when Tony Benn got back into Parliament after losing his seat but there have been other memorables. In Moss Side in 1978, Vanessa Redgrave stood for the WRP ( she lost) and there were bad ones for Labour like the Bermondsey by-election in 1982 when the Liberals ran a homophobic campaign against Peter Tatchell . Glasgow East is going to be the one which may determine Labour's future but tonight, in Haltemprice and Howden, the result is a foregone conclusion.
I still think David davis is to be admired for standing on the 42 days issue. In the end, I was less convinced that Bob Marshall-Andrews and Tony Benn should officially back him. Labour is in such a bad place at the moment that it doesn't exactly help.......But, given this weeks' debate in the Lords it is seriously likely the conclusion will be is that the legislation is both impractical and illogical. So no late-night stuff for me tonight . But in two weeks' time, will be glued to the TV
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Off topic, if you'll allow me, because the Spectator blog has an intriguing post indicating that several influential people in the Labour party are thinking that it might be better for 'Hash' Brown to be dumped quickly and after a new leader takes over to call a snap election which they will lose but which will leave the Tories with the problem of dealing with the economic tsunami which will hit us all over the next few years.
If I were a Labourite (and I'm reaching now for my garlic!) I would think that idea has some merit. What thinkest thou?
http://www.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/828296/should-labour-get-the-defeat-out-of-the-way-as-quickly-as-possible.thtml
I tend toi think that if Labour were to choose a new leader there would have to be a General Election sooner rather than later. From Labour's point of view, a snap election would be an unmitigated disaster but maybe well before 2010.I don't actually think the economic downturn is being blamed on Labour - I think the problem is the policies and the public's perception of Labour as being no different than the Tories.
I have always found that engaging in mealy-mouthed equivocation about an opportunist libertarian Tory who supports the death penalty and thinks CCTV is a threat to our traditional freedoms is by far the best way to promote the best interests of the far-from-libertarian-and-rightly-so Labour Party.
I salute your indefatigability.
(I also like the idea, by the way, that the government is not being blamed for the drop in growth, higher unemployment and inflation - but, rather, it's all about the fact that they won't nationalise the railways and withdraw troops from Iraq. Bonus.)
Who cares thats the real question.
Another excuse for you to be gratuitously nasty, Ben. I would not have voted for David Davis and I would not have campaigned for him - because however much I disapprove of the Labour Mps who allowed brown to bully them over 42 days I could not campaign for a Tory. Your rant shows precisely why New Labour is so low in public standing.Unless there is clear red water between labour and the Tories at the next election, we've had it. The fact you don't recognise that is not surprising .
So the best by-election was one which elected an MP who eventually lost a safe Labour seat to the LibDems? Says it all really.
Tony Benn didn't lose a safe Labour seat to the Lib Dems. Some New Labour tosser did that (in fact, socio-economic changes following pit closures did it - Tony kept the seat on a personal vote beyond when it might otherwise have changed).
I hope the current candidate gets it back - he seems a good chap.
Says what, anonymous? Oh wouldn't it be great if these anonymous posters had some courage.
Yes we nearly lost Chesterfield with Tony as I recall in that by election
as much as I am a fan
we had great left policies but no one was voting for it
On the contrary, Susan. My view is that those of us who support the party should leave our differences aside and attack the Tories in order to prevent a wipe-out. Unfortunately, it seems that those on the "left" of the party seem more interested in picking over the remains.
That is a matter for you and your friends. I anticipate that plenty of people will notice this, however. History is not blind.
What's the whole "The fact you don't recognise that is not surprising" thing, by the way? I've never commented on your blog before. I'm quite shocked that you seek to pigeon-hole me in the way you do. I've never commented on your blog before. How on earth do you presume to know what my politics are?
(I don't really need an excuse to be "gratuitously nasty" by the way. I can do that anyway.)
I would like to be able to 'support the party', Ben.
But I cannot support many of the ideas and policies of this government.
And I am not on the left, but a reasonable Labour social democrat.
WE need to get the entryists to leave or expel them we cannot go on with people like Hutton and clarke in the Party
they have to go
just as we need to expel Militant (like it or not was a party in a party not a tendancy)
Just for information - the Chesterfield by-election saw Tony get 24,633 votes (to the Liberal's 18,369) a majority of 6,264 - higher than Eric Varley's had been - which he increased to 8,500 in 87 (against the Liberal/SDP Alliance).
So your recollection is wrong, I'm afraid, anonymous. We had great left policies and people voted for them!
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