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 Op-ed: Having stayed up into the wee small hours to watch the Stoke Central and Copeland by-election results Thursday as they came in this brief report is relatively late in the day. So first the result. The Labour Party held Stoke Central but lost Copeland to a Tory candidate. The world and its wife has already had their say and the knives are out for Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn but the big loser is UKip and its party leader Paul Nuttall. This woman is watching BBC daily politics as she writes and first things first the Labour MP for Cumbria John Woodcock is sharing his twopenneth. Mr Woodcock, like Jamie Reed who quit Copeland triggering the by-election, has been vocally against Jeremy Corbyn from day one. Obviously then this woman wonders what he and others of the same mind said on the doorstep campaigning in Copeland. To be fair Mr Woodcock Friday did not lay the blame at Corbyn's door but he hardly put in a reassuring performance. So a few thoughts from a Labour Party voter, supporter and party member. BRexit, Article 50 and immigration Both Stoke and Copeland voted heavily to leave the European Union in last year's referendum. Old new Labour In the last week old new Labour stalwarts, and some would say fat cats, John McTernan, Alistair Campbell, Tony Blair and Peter Mandelson received a great deal of mainstream publicity and it was all about the UK staying part of the EU. Hardly a vote winner in two BRexit supporting constituencies. Timing of Article 50 debate The debate held so close to these two elections drip fed uncertainty about Labour's European intentions. Clive Lewis resigning his shadow cabinet position because of the Article 50 vote was picked up by the mainstream media who ran with it as negative spin. The two MPs who resigned in Stoke and Copeland Tristram Hunt and Jamie Reed opted to trigger by elections on the same day. That left the Labour Party defending two constituencies on same day. Both these men were supporters of old new Labour. Both often appeared to be in the wrong political party. Appointment of election candidates Other parties were already campaigning on the ground by the time Labour had selected its candidates. They were selected locally which means candidates suit the constituency Labour party but not necessarily the residents. So the Labour Party needs to fine tune its selection process and speed it up. Voters need to see a candidate when a campaign starts not just a party. They need to know who wants their votes. Does UKip have any relevance in 2017? Paul Nuttall was the candidate that kept on giving in Stoke. He may claim there was a dirty campaign against him but he was shown to be a liar more than once. Having failed to win various elections previously Mr Nuttall must surely be considering his position as a would be MP? He remains an MEP and party leader but for how much longer? In Copeland the Tory vote was up and UKip vote down. It appears a straight transfer of UKip to Tory helped the Conservative candidate win. Boundary changes Boundary changes in 2010 brought traditional Tory voters into the Copeland constituency and the Labour majority was cut. This means those quoting old voting history in Copeland forget that is not relevant in 2017. Further planned boundary changes will continue this trend shoring up the Tory vote. Here in Hull West and Hessle similar changes are planned. Progressive alliances Progressive alliances are back in the room following Thursday's by elections. Some believe it is the only way to beat the Tories in 2017 and beyond. Final thoughts The labour party needs to:
But when Copeland, an area where the local hospital is under threat, goes blue we need to toughen up and focus as a priority. WE all need a kick up the bum and the reboot button reset. By elections are often protest votes against the government. Thursday it seems a majority of voters in Copeland and Stoke expressed they are content with unelected PM Theresa May and her government. We need to ask them why. Was it all about BRexit and Sellafield jobs in Copeland?
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 Opinion: Supporting left-wing politics in the UK is a funny old game.
Yes in so many ways it is a game although it is not to the general public. The Left in this case is the Labour party. Where to start just posting a few thoughts is not easy but here goes. Apologies if it becomes a meaningless ramble. If nothing else it will be therapeutic for me. First a little One Woman background Born in the East riding of Yorkshire city of Kingston-upon-Hull in 1952 I was one of the lucky ones. A few years earlier I would have entered a war ravaged Great Britain in a city experiencing the Blitz and with "no cradle to the grave" National Health Service. Both could have prevented survival. The post war years were tough but not as tough as the actual war years. There was still some rationing and a great deal of poverty but most ordinary people were in the same boat. Politics was not on the home or school agenda or so it seemed; it must have been at a subliminal level perhaps. I have always aligned myself with left-wing politics and the Labour Party and voted accordingly. Dad was a builder's labourer who worked hard, suffered a range of undiagnosed war related mental heath issues and died aged 55. His story and my Mum's and their respective siblings probably helped shape my Labour views. The European Union The only time I have not voted Labour was in the run up to the UK joining the common market or EEC now known as the EU or European Union. I opted for an independent anti common market Labour candidate. In the referendum to join the common market I voted no. But the NO voters lost. That was it job done, majority rules and we were in. I do not remember a national outcry, dummies being spat out with force and friends and family members falling out big time over the result. That's democracy. Now with rolling 24/7 news real, fake, propaganda and spin it is a very different game. So what do I hate about the left? For me the Labour Party is my left wing political party. Some of the fresh faced post Blair Labour MPs and candidates may not agree. They like to talk of "moderates" "soft left" and "hard left" and employ Tory working practice; divide and rule. Using the term "Labour is a Broad Church" also helps divide the party. Having voted for the Labour Party at local and national level for so many years in 2015 I signed up; ahead of the General Election in 2015 I thought I best put my money where my mouth is and become a party member. What a huge mistake that was. Retired now I have more time to follow events and did hope to become more politically active but that is on hold. Watching MPs and activists bicker is a killer. It is a big turn off. The mainstream media spin news for maximum impact but the Labour Party manages to rip itself apart unaided. Leading lights in the Labour Party use Twitter to hold spats, name call, post resignation letters and pull the party into disrepute. Those MPs on the right of the party working to undermine party leader Jeremy Corbyn at any opportunity block party members on a whim. One party member preaching unity on social media was blocking anyone and everyone. Other political parties rub their hands with glee hoping to scavenge disenfranchised Labour Party voters and supporters. Other political parties keep their divisions underwraps and out of the media; Labour's dirty washing is aired in public and too often by its own people. The EU referendum 2016 was brought to you by the Tory Party. It was a vote winner for David Cameron in 2015. Cameron often called chicken ran true to form and quit post the Brexit vote. Cameron is now raking the money in as the Labour Party and its leader Jeremy Corbyn take a mainstream media hit following the Article 50 vote. In a nutshell What I hate about the Labour Party:
And with each plot aimed at undermining Jeremy Corbyn it gets more difficult. http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/tonights-vote-on-the-brexit-bill-could-be-the-beginning-of-the-end-of-jeremy-corbyns-leadership-a7556951.html |
