Can Crewe’s loss be put down to McCabe’s tactics not the PM?

Even assiduous PBers with a great interest in politics will probably not recognise the man on Gordon’s left in the picture – but he is Steve McCabe – a Glaswegian trade union official turned Birmingham Labour MP who is running his party’s campaign in Crewe and Nantwich. He’s also a government whip.

It is McCabe who is responsible for the “Toff” attacks on the Tory candidate that has brought out some of the most sanctimonious rubbish that we’ve seen for a long time from the Conservative blogsphere. Just check this out from ConHome. Get real guys. If you are going to win by elections then expect it to get tough out there and some hard things will be said and written.

The only issue with the “Toff” campaign is whether or not it will have an impact on the result. My view is that it represents an old fashioned Clydeside view of the world that simply does not resonate with Labour’s traditional working class supporters south of the border.

But you have to ask yourself what alternative did McCabe have? What could he use to galvanise his troops to get the vote out? It won’t have done much damage but it won’t have helped much.

But McCabe’s campaign does have one important function – it will give Labour a means to insulate Gordon from responsibility when the seemingly inevitable happens next Thursday and the party loses. Crewe’s loss will be blamed on the campaign and not the Prime Minister.

Sadly for McCabe he is the fall guy.

Mike Smithson