The SNP must be laughing all the way to the ballot box. Tonight the favourite for the Labour nomination for Glasgow East withdrew from the selection contest, leaving them without a candidate and a cancelled campaign launch event in the morning. David Cameron and IDS were in the constituency today, with Alex Salmond there tomorrow to support the SNP candidate John Mason.
What is it about Labour failing to put up candidates in by elections?!
Anyone know why Cllr Ryan withdrew?
39 comments:
Why are you bothering with this crap, there's only one story tonight, why aren't you commenting?
Listen, I'm here if Labour want me...but I will require to be 'appropriately rewarded' for standing.
It isn't crap. Thanks for letting us know. Labour's campaign not doing too well. Maybe he was going to be away during the Glasgow Fair.
Labour can`t even get a candidate in place for this election...and this is meant to be the party of government.
It used to be said that a monkey with a Labour rosette could win Glasgow East, perhaps they've gone to Glasgow Zoo to find a candidate
Iain - As you know but seem so coy about reporting yet another Tory in office has had to resign in disgrace. Curiously absent from your blog, wy could that be?
Thanks Ray for reminding us why we must never let this shower in again
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7490687.stm
Ref anon 11:49; Ray Lewis is quite a big story, but this is much bigger (even if it is not in London). A commenter on pb likened losing Glasgow East to crossing the Berezina in the retreat from Moscow. If they are struggling to find a candidate, the end is nigh. Obviously Mrs Thatcher's fault for calling a snap by-election.
Maybe its because he doesn't believe in maintaining the Union between Scotland and England.
He had previously told David Blunkett in 2003 that he found the Union Flag sectarian and the National Anthem offensive.
The Times has an article on him.
To be fair, God Save the Queen does go on about crushing rebellious Scots!
It would be a political gift to the SNP if he ran.
I'm sure family reasons will be the official line.
At least they won't lose, if they don't take part.
Only two and a half weeks to the by election that Labour moved the writ for and Labour don't have a candidate?
Thoughts of organising a P**s up in a distillery come to mind.
Thanks Iain for revealing this story.
All I heard from BBC Radio Scotland this morning was (in breathless tones) that Stephen Purcell (head honcho in Glasgow Council) might be the candidate.
No mention of anything else that might criticise the Labour Party.
But that's the BBC for you.....
If Bulingdon Boris can start like this in London just think what Bulingdon Dave could do for the Country.
Listen to the sound of...er, silence from Mr Dale about the lovely Mr Lewis.
So, who in Central office knew, when did they know and what did they do about it? If they didn't know, don't you think they should have done, and what does that say about Dave?
To lose one person from your administration in a matter of days might be regarded as misfortune, to lose two...
Whatever else the resignation of the Deputy Mayor of just another city is important for those inside the beltway of the M25, it does not threaten the future of the United Kingdom.
To answer Iain Dale's original question,today's Glasgow Herald is saying"
,Shettleston councillor George Ryan, the favourite for the nomination in the Labour stronghold, was unable to attend a selection meeting in the constituency due to "unforeseen circumstances", according to a party spokesperson. It is understood that Mr Ryan's partner is reluctant for him to seek the nomination but the first that campaign organisers knew of the situation was at last evening's meeting."
As a backup Labour seem to be looking to Stephen Purcell, leader of Glasgow City Council
Londonw12 12.30am
Sorry but there is a large part of the electorate outside of London and apart from Londoners and Channel 4 nobody in the rest of the Country really gives a toss about Ray Lewis. The next General Election will be lost by Labour because large parts of the country(outside of London) have had enough of Gordon and his high taxation policies
Pity the conservatives could not persuade Bob Geldoff to stand in Glasgow for them - perhaps then they could have won!
On the remarks of anonymous at 11.49pm who says there is only one story!
What it does show is that the Ministry of Justice - who had offered Mr Lewis the position of Justice of the Peace - is guilty of the same lack of research into Mr Lewis's background as the, Daily mail especially, are accusing Boris, Cameron and the Tories of failure to check!
The number of bogus doctors working in our hospitals is a scandal but they still slip through the net! similarly dentists.
Even criminals have managed to join the police!
At times one has to accept what one is told.
The question is was Mr Lewis successful in turning round children from a life of crime? If he was then that is what he should be judged on.
This society is to quick to jump on people.
As the good book (Bible not Koran) says Let him who is without sin cast the first stone!
Maybe they are concerned that any more lost deposits will finally sink the debt-ship we call NuLab.
Seriously, I lived in Glasgow for a while and I very much doubt that John 'face of NuLab' Reid's 'retirement' move to chair Celtic will have gone down well in the blue half of the city. It won't have passed them by and I'd be suprised if there aren't electoral consequences of that. Glasgow's that sort of tolerant place, y'know.
Gordon Brown has been appropriated as the butt of the nation’s jokes, its punching-bag and bogeyman. No one (and this seems to extend to the Cabinet) has a good word to say for him and when he does come up everyone has an avalanche of words to bury him in. If Labour is struggling for candidates who want to volunteer to be humiliated not just in 2008, but in countless history books to come, that is the ultimate explanation.
There is a truly pervasive anti-government atmosphere at the moment in politics. Under the pressure of the newspaper leaders and the opinion polls and the water-cooler character assassinations, Labour sympathisers are finding it harder and harder to sustain their sympathy. It as if thinking well of the Prime Minister is a plant that isn’t adapted to survive in this environment. The pressure to go along with the herd and accept the popular wisdom is overwhelming. Social views are contagious; an epidemic of dissatisfaction with the Prime Minister has spread through the population, carried on the radio waves and in the newsprint of the media. I think that’s why so many Labour supporters are despairing. Every time politics is mentioned they hear their convictions about the government controverted. Most just can’t take the psychological pressure that comes with trying to speak up for Brown anymore.
To read more of my views link to my blog, Just who the hell are we?, on wordpress.com:
http://adammcnestrie.wordpress.com/
shaun - Glasgow East has Parkhead in the constituency. The place is as green and Catholic as any constituency in the country.
At present time, I'd say the only thing that could help Labour win this seat is the public intervention of Dr John Reid.
Becoming Chairman of Glasgow elevates him to demi-God in this constituency, even if other parts of Glasgow hate him for it.
I Brooon were to "appropriately reward" me with, say... an Audi R8 and a boot full of money so that I could buy myself a peerage, I would be willing to travel to Glasgow.
Problem is, I doubt I would tow the party line...
'Why are you bothering with this crap, there's only one story tonight, why aren't you commenting?'
How much would you like to bet that this chap is coming in from a UK government IP address? Really guys, why not try running the country decently instead?
Labour can't find a candidate for one of its safest seats after having called the by-election. If that is not news then what is?
"yet another Tory in office " was he a tory?
He is/was a black Anglican social worker ... So i am in difficulties to see why Labourists are so keen to knock him.
Some allegations are serious by the way and should be investigated - but its not clear to my that lewis was qualified to be a JP or not, it seems he never sat as one but thats not the same thing.
Meantime Labour cannot even find a candidate for a vital by election - this coming after they were all to keen to parachute someone into Crewe and call a quickie election.
Fair one, Morus. I wasn't sure of the geography but I do expect Labour to take a hit in non-Celtic areas at the nearest electoral opportunity.
Morus - "Glasgow East has Parkhead in the constituency. The place is as green and Catholic as any constituency in the country."
Just because the stadium is in Parkhead it does not mean the area is like the Falls Road.
In fact the opposite could be the fact. There is a District Orange Lodge in Parkhead.
The same goes for Ibrox.
Why don't they ask Michael Foot to stand? Or George Lansbury? Or Keir Hardy? (I know some of these are dead, but the electorate will never notice.)
Why is it that whenever I see this block of text at the end of a post:
"To read more of my views link to my blog, Just who the hell are we?, on wordpress.com:
http://adammcnestrie.wordpress.com/"
I automatically scroll down, ignoring the entire comment ?
Could it be because the author is a self-important, over-opinionated plonker ?
Morus is right. Shaun is wrong. This is a largely Catholic constituency. Cllr Ryan may have had alll sorts of pressures on him between his lack of love for the union and the views e.g. on abortion perhaps of his nearest and dearest.
Cllr Purcell is from out West and might have had a different constituency in his plans. He is clearly destined for parliament at some stage.
Perhaps George Galloway would like a comeback in Labour colours?
To be fair, I think Cllr Ryan has withdrawn for family reasons.
Labour were quite openly trying to hawk the nomination to Elean C Smith (Mrs Rab Nesbitt off the box). He may just have been pissed at being 2nd choice to destroy his career by losing Shettleston, which has been one of these constituencies where that can just weigh the Labour votes since Noah was a boy.
Neil Craig, will be you be standing again for the Nine Percent Growth Party?
Small update from Escotia:-
Cllr. Ryan has issued a statement to the effect that he withdrew because of his deep and unabilding love for his family. Not because of certain allegations made in a book called 'Halls of Infamy' about machinations within Glasgow City Council. Oh no.
They tried to get Stephen Purcell, leader of Glasgow City Council to stand but he wasn't daft enough to bite, so a sitting MSP, albeit one that has leadership ambitions (rumours that it was her that stuck the knife into Wendy Alexander) Margaret Curran. If she wins, well then Gordon owes her big time. Also she would need to resign her Holyrood seat, causing another unwelcome by-election. There is already one pending when Jack McConnell finally goes to Malawi. So 2 possible by-elections pending at Holyrood, and the SNP with a 1 seat majority?
Unless, of course, they are clearing the way for a safe Holyrood seat for John Reid to stage a comeback as Labour leader up here? Just a thought.
One of the Scottish Sundays is rumoured to be going with allegations which will look bad for Labour.
ENGLISH PARLIAMENT NOW!!!!!!!!
You are right limesmoothie - it was the SNP who were toutingb her. I stand corrected - labour seem to have manged to make this mess without outside help.
Perhaps anon 3.17. Mind you way back then we were the only party saying that if we don't have nuclear power the lights will go out. Now both Tories & Labour are followers of ours.
If both parties can completely reverse themselves inside a year of the Scottish election who knows? By the next one they may have decided we aren't suffering catastrophic warming today & a growing economy would be nice in which case I guess I would just have to decide which party's request I write their manifesto I should accept.
Having been in the constituency today, I can report seeing the SNP feverishly at work decorating lampposts and knocking doors - they seem fully committed to winning this one.
By contrast, I thought it perfectly fitting that the 'Vote Scottish Labour' signs were still flailing from 2 lampposts having not been removed since the 2007 SP elections. I thought it was an apt image for the party- it still hasn't recovered at all since May 07.
The Labour Party is a shambles. You've got to think Margaret Curran's declaration that she wants to stand as the candidate in Glasgow East has as much to do with ending this saga as it does with the fact that no member of the so called 'Glasgow Mafia' within the party stands a chance of becoming leader in the SP after how they've cocked up this by-election.
That will be a big boost to those in the so called 'Lanarkshire Mafia' and of course, to Iain Gray.
The SNP should win here, have got to win here, for everyones sake Labour need a massive jolt- personally I thought that Crewe would have done it but apparently not.
Vervet - me too. Everytime.
Well, Sancus - it took them a ridiculous amount of time to acknowledge defeat and even then they were peddling the 'We only lost by one! Its no' fair!' line for ages. So little wonder they are in the mess they are.
Maybe they are trying to get Margaret Curran out of the way before any leadership contest kicks off and she unveils herself as the screaming fishwife she was at the May 07 count.
Or maybe the Herald will finally reveal the identity of 'the mole' who did for Wendy Alexander?????????? I'd laugh my ass off if they did that tomorrow. Nothing like kicking a party when they are down.
Nobody seems to know quite what is going on in Glasgow itself Iain. None of the parties, the press, nobody.
Just got back and one thing is certain, the local Labour party are possibly the only people now ruing the short election they've called. Especially now they'll not have a candidate for most of the first week of the campaign.
Piss ups and Breweries come to mind
Hot news from BBC1 news this morning. Labour to nominate the back of a bus.
a brief thought - it applies as much to Joke Mcconnells forthcoming by-election. Ms Alexander's resignation creates a problem for Brown, in that he likes to control everything. There's no candidate in Holyrood up to the job. Curran's candidacy here means that she will be doing 2 jobs if she wins. That means that should (insert name of hadnpicked brown acolyte duggie alexander?) declare an interest in succeeding Ms Alexander, there is a nive 'safe' seat with a by-election pending at holyrood. if that makes sense.
Far fetched? maybe today, but in blairs day, far from it.
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