Friday, June 26, 2009

Ian Gibson May Stand After All

Former Norwich North MP Ian Gibson has dropped more than a hint to Michael Crick that he might well stand in the by-election as an Independent candidate. Well that would certainly put the cat among the pigeons. A lot depends on what his former constituents make of his second home claims. If the reaction in the local papers is anything to go by, they are less than impressed. Set against that is the fact that it is undeniable that he was a popular constituency MP.

Of course, they might also ask why he resigned his seat and caused a by-election. Why didn't he just continue as an Independent MP in Parliament?

31 comments:

David said...

Would it be less embarrassing for Labour to lose the seat if they could say their vote was split? Just a thought. Political Betting has been looking at the poll and seems to suggest it is even better news for the Tories than it appears.

Thats News said...

Why? I wonder if he wanted to give Brown a good boot that only a Labour loss would inflict?

Anonymous said...

Surely, for a similar reason why DD stood down causing a By-election in H&H. To make an expensive point!

Anonymous said...

Labour fucked either way!

Chris Paul said...

I'd guess that Mr Gibson may have been having some fun at Crick's expense and/or the pair having some fun at yours Iain.

There may well be a move to select him as Labour's candidate though even that seems far-fetched.

Anonymous said...

Iain;what local papers are you reading then? Not the ones the locals get, there is a lot of support for Gibson in Norwich North, regardless of the second homes thing.

Try reading them, not just recycling your website for them for once.

dick dastardly said...

Reading this blog is like eating someone else's vomit.

Iain Dale said...

Don't try and be clever. I write for the local paper, and I read the evening paper. Clearly you don't otherwise you'd know what the letters pages have been saying. They also carried out a poll a few weeks ago.

Moderniser said...

I'd be extremely surprised if he does stand. Can't see it happening at all.

Fausty said...

Even if he was guilty of expenses gluttony, at least he left with with a modicum of honour. If he was popular and his constituents don't want him whether or not he stands for Labour or as an independent, Labour's had it!

That doesn't mean the Tories will have an easy ride - I believe the taste for anything but Lib/Lab/Con is growing daily, not least because of the Lisbon Treaty.

Anonymous said...

Bollocks Iain. You're in the Westminster village most of the time and don't the faintest idea what's going on in Norwich. You really are full of shit sometimes.

Iain Dale said...

No need to swear. Strange that I write a column for the main Norfolk paper. Do you think they would have me do that if they thought I was out of touch with what goes on in Norfolk? I shall be spending tomorrow in Norwich, just so you know.

Don't pick a fight you can't win. I worked for the Conservatives in that constituencies for several years. I ran the Tory campaigns there in 1987 and 1992. I know every street. Yes, bits of it have changed since my day, but I probably know more about the constituency that you do, so just accept that, will you?

And next time, be polite.

alan partridge said...

anybody want some marketing advice?

Doktorb said...

It would be strange if he suddenly remembered how much he wanted to be an MP after declaring how fast he wanted to leave! Money problems or something?

This seat is looking like the proverbial two-horse race, but ex-MPs rarely feature in such contests. Between the Tories and Labour, yes, but not the Conservatives and ex-Labour MP.

Graeme Ovens said...

I'll be voting for Craig Murray, a truly decent man.

Thomas Rossetti said...

Firstly, Anonymous, it would help if you would put a name to your posts. Are we dealing with one person here, or a group?

Secondly, on what basis do you assert that "there is a lot of support for Gibson in Norwich North"? Is it just because you like him? (And if so, why?)Are you in fact Dr Ian Gibson himself? Let's have a link to some verifiable information, please.

Elliot Kane said...

I suppose he might have decided to resign then stand as an independent because he feels he was elected as a Labour MP, so lacks a democratic mandate to be anything else.

This would be unusually scrupulous for an MP of any party.

It's either that or he's really miffed at the way Labour treated him and wants to be certain they get a bloody nose. If I were a gambling man, I'd think that the more likely explanation. IF he does decide to stand.

Anonymous said...

You know Norfolk so well that you thought you could walk into a seat there without proper campaigning.

Hate to tell you Iain, as I have links to the Archant editorial team, that they take your column as you are a name in politics. No other reason, your student activities are frankly irrelevant. As is your ludicrous candidature for North Norfolk.

Most of us up here view your stuff as overpriced rubbish, ,money which could have been spent on employing decent local journalists instead of failed candidates rehashing second hand opinions retailed all over the web first.

You are a modern example of what Stanley Baldwin described as excercising the prerogative of a whore, exercising power without responsibility. A political Christopher Biggins.

Sorry mate, it's not only the blogging community which has seen through you. The sticks have as well.

Anonymous said...

"I probably know more about the constituency that you do, so just accept that, will you?"

I've lived and worked here for the last 43 years, so I doubt it, sunshine.

Peter Thomas said...

A political Christopher Biggins?

Oh no he isn't!

Oh, yes he is!

Oh no he isn't!

Iain Dale said...

Doesn't the comment above at 7.49 illustrate what is wrong with anonymous blog commenters. He, or she, makes assertions about his connections to the EDP without providing any proof and then launches into a series of calculated insults. I might take some of his points seriously if he actually put a name to his rantings. But he won't do that. Pathetic cowards never do.

Just for the record, when I started my column I hadn't got much of a name in politics at all.

Secondly, you don't know what I get paid for the column. For all you know I do it for free.

Anonymous said...

Will you confirm if you write for free then? Perhaps you might like to declare your expenses!

Iain Dale said...

And perhaps you might declare who you are.

What I get paid has bugger all to do with anonymous blog trolls.

Thomas Rossetti said...

This is hilarious! Firstly, Anonymous number 1 (at 7:49pm) if you despise Iain Dale so much, why do you read his blog and then write a comment about it. (I write rude things to Alastair Campbell and John Prescott because I disagree with what they say, not because I dislike their blogs.)

Secondly, Anonymous number 2 (at 7:53pm) you write, "I've lived and worked here for the last 43 years, so I doubt it, sunshine."

How do we know you've lived there for 43 years if you won't reveal who you are?

I could easily log in (anonymously, of course) and say "I've lived here for the last 53 years and can confirm Iain Dale is correct." Another Anonymous could then raise the ante to 63 years and disagree with that. Where will it all end? (With someone who's spent 103 years in the area and never gone beyond the Norfolk Broads, I expect.)

Thomas Rossetti said...

My last comment took me so long to write I didn't notice that Iain Dale himself had written very similar comments to mine. Some suspicious readers may suspect we are in league together (or even the same person).

I am not Iain Dale.

Anonymous said...

Curious!

A moment hence you suggested it might be for free.

Strange as well how you permit "trolls" to post libel on here & yet when they question your integrity you resort to hyperbole & obfuscation of the issue.

A good point made Iain, you don't mind anonymous commentators when it suits your purpose but otherwise.

I do enjoy your column.I put it in the cat's litter tray & let him express my opinion on you for me.

Point made Iain. Enjoy the show tonight, I may call!

Anonymous said...

Thomas, I'm impressed.

An American who knows somewhere outside the US that isn't Iraq or Afghanistan!

Well done m8!

Anonymous said...

Gibson was turned over Dale and you know it. your partiality knows no bounds. Again, UK media's in whatever form are largely bias;less than objective. I suspect having un shackled himself from the traitor party he will re establish as a man of substance, and virtue...unlike McKay, Kirkbride and tha lying harlot Dorries (a female friend knows things about ND you could never know nor make up....she is just waiting her moment).....Enjoy the fun meantime....Tee hee as Avid Merion would say

Ricardo's Ghost said...

Gibson's answer to your question Iain is, I would have thought, pretty obvious. It would go something like this:

The people of Norwich elected to serve as a Labour MP. If I'm going to be an Independent MP they deserve a say in the matter.

Not from Norwich said...

My, my, the vitriol is flowing.

If Gibson were to stand as an independent and win, then he can say that he has support. Whereas if he had just left the Labour party and sat as an independent then he would have little credibility.

Considering that the concept of 'honour' in this present expenses ferrago is virtually absent - esp in Labour Cabinet ministers - at least Gibson would have some to strut.

Thomas Rossetti said...

To Anonymous at 9:48pm, thank you for your compliment but it is sadly misplaced. I am English and spent the first 25 years of my life there. I only live in America.

I am usually quite quick to jump to Americans' defence but you are right: they are indeed shockingly ignorant of world geography.