Houghton & Washington East Labour MP Fraser Kemp has announced he will leave Parliament at the next election. Kemp has been a key figure in Labour election strategy but has become increasingly disillusioned.Fifty this week, Kemp has seen the writing on the wall for Labour and wants to get out while he is still young enough to build a new career. I suspect he will not be alone in that. Watch out for a whole string of retirement announcements for Labour MPs in their mid forties to early fifties.
UPDATE: A mutal friend of Fraser's phones to say that Fraser is not disillusioned and that he's going because after 30 years he really does want a change. He's actually quite excited about a new challenge.
I have to say that although Fraser is quite a tribal politician he's bloody good company and I really wish him all the best in whatever this new challenge is.
23 comments:
That's incredible, Fraser Kemp is only 50!
Lamb dressed as mutton.
I wish I were 50
Labour Retirements already announced for the next Election :
Janet Dean (Burton)
Mark Todd (South Derbyshire) - Edwina Currie's old Seat
It looks better on the CV.
You've missed some...
"He is the third Sunderland MP to announce he will not be running when Prime Minister Gordon Brown calls the next general election. Colleagues Bill Etherington and Chris Mullin have already told the Labour party they are retiring from the House of Commons."
What's left of the Labour party after the next election is going to be either aged lefties sitting on insurmountable majorities in the deepest heartlands or new boys and girls with no experience.
Oh dear. What a pity. Never mind.
I believe John Grogan, Labour MP for Selby is also standing down (born 1962?) as it's been announced that his replacement candidate Wendy Nicols is also standing down as PPC due to the recent death of her husband.
He looks about 70. That's what working for Brown does for you!
"Kemp has been a key figure in Labour election strategy but has become increasingly disillusioned."
What could have caused this?
a) He wasn't at all successful.
or
b) Someone kept ignoring his advice.
or
c) Both.
That dude doesn't look a day over 85!
wow.
Haven't heard from John "big tent" Bercow recently.
Assuming he won't jump ship now; any chance he can be deselected?
Since the Snot Goblin will not jack it in until 2010, all these future ex-Labour MPs can have one last long quaffe at the trough.
While being disillusioned, they do appear to be disillusioned enough to walk out on Brown right now and maybe force an election.
Men of principle my arse
I'm sure a successful new showbusiness career as a hobbit lookalike awaits him, assuming he's as short as the photo suggests.
Kemp has seen the writing on the wall for Labour and wants to get out while he is still young enough to build a new career.
He told you that, did he? Because I'm sure you wouldn't just make it up.
And before you say "what else could it be" - that's not the point. You've passed off your speculation as undisputed fact.
Surely you've missed somebody off the list ?
"Believing that as I do, I clearly cannot honestly remain in the Party. I do not intend to leave public life. On the contrary I am looking forward to joining another party with which I have found increasingly I am naturally in agreement and which has just acquired a leader I have always greatly admired, who I believe is entirely straightforward, and who has a towering record, and a clear vision for the future of our country which I fully share."
Quentin Davies MP
Grantham & Stamford
Statement to the press 26 June 2007
Shaun of The Dead meets Norman Tebbit. What a terrible fate awaits the PLP.
Barry Sheerman MP for Huddersfield is a prime candidate for retirement. He is about 70 and is really past it! He belongs in a era from time gone by: He just does not get it!
Whilst Huddersfield might stay Labour (Just), I really do question the wisdom of keeping past it MP's in the house, when Mp's with 10 years experience will get slung out - with another 10 years good service left.
Time for Sheerman to go for a dignifies retirement.
Hard to see what alternative careers will be open to a lot of ex-MPs. Those that are lawyers will be ok. With nu labour making a new law every day and recruiting a stassi to spy on us we will all sooner or later be caught out I complained in he supermarket that I did not believe the governments inflation figures soon people will be disapeared for 42 days for less. Unfortunatly I am neither poor enough or rich enough to get legal aid.
The polytechnic social studies lecturers will be ok need more pointless degrees as we try to make everybody a graduate.
The ones that have done nothing but politics. Student actavist to researcher to MP what do they do.
The top few of them could with re-training run a whelk stall. We will need to have a collection for therest of them before Brown removes the rest of our money.
Bob Marshall Andrews has also confirmed his retirement at the next election, as have John Austin, Ann Cryer and John Cummings.
The brutal truth is that the longer Gordon Brown leaves it the worse it will get.
The missed election was a water shed - not the rain, and it's the rain they have to deal with.
New Labour need to cut their losses now, not in 18 months. It's not Gordon Brown that needs to go - it's an election that needs to be called this autumn. They, and every political pundit, don't have the insight to see it.
They will not recover, their losses will keep mounting. Gordon Brown is another Nick Leeson.
gawd ...there will be soooo many portillo moments ..!...Will the beeb and sky have enough cameras to cover them all ?
Will gordon actually stand for re election in Kirkaldy ?
I don't think he will ..to suffer the ignominy
nah
Deserves worse than a decent retirement
After Leicester South, only Tom Watson is hated more by us Lib Dems.
And rightly so.
I can't think of a more evil Labour MP....apart from Tom Watson.
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