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Category: Labour leadership

Labour candidates fear doorstep questions about Corbyn and the Kremlin

Labour candidates fear doorstep questions about Corbyn and the Kremlin

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Labour members on the front line are worried about how voters will react to Jeremy Corbyn’s equivocal response to the attempted assassination in Salisbury of Russian double agent Sergei Skripal, and his daughter. The front line in this case is the May local elections, including polls in the 32 London boroughs where the Tories fear they are in for a drubbing. But at a training session last week for new candidates in one of those boroughs the very first question…

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The star who plays a LAB MP in tonight’s new BBC political thriller is worried about state of the party

The star who plays a LAB MP in tonight’s new BBC political thriller is worried about state of the party

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Why Don Brind thinks he shouldn’t be David Mars is a Labour MP worried about the state of his party and at odds with his leader. Described as a “frustrated but hard-working member of the shadow cabinet” the central character in tonight’s BBC2 thriller Collateral “despairs at the state of the Labour Party and many of its policies .. he’s not afraid to be outspoken and on more than one occasion he finds himself in hot water with the party…

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Jon Trickett – Labour’s man to sort out the outsourcing mess?

Jon Trickett – Labour’s man to sort out the outsourcing mess?

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Don Brind on the politics of the post-Carrilion world When Jon Trickett was leader of the Leeds City Council in the early 90s he had a regular Friday date with finance department officials. He got them to bring along every bill the council had paid that week. He then pulled out at random a number of bills to prompt a discussion on whether the ratepayers had got value for money from suppliers. “I hate waste” declares Trickett and his hands-on…

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A woman leader could give LAB the polling breakthrough that it is looking for

A woman leader could give LAB the polling breakthrough that it is looking for

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Don Brind on Corbyn’s successor I was on holiday last week with an old mate who is intensely proud of his northern roots. Born a scouser he made his mark on Yorkshire newspapers before his well-honed shorthand, bulging contacts book and nose for news earned him a transfer to Westminster. He became a popular and respected member of the lobby but decades after his arrival there it still rankles with him that his accent was mocked by a southern, middle…

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Laura Pidcock – the 33/1 newbie MP who is being tipped as Corbyn’s successor

Laura Pidcock – the 33/1 newbie MP who is being tipped as Corbyn’s successor

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A small flutter might be worthwhile Following what was perceived to be a success at the last general election, although Labour finished 58 seats behind, there have been few questions about the future of Jeremy Corbyn. He looks pretty secure and the biggest issue he faces is that he will be in his early 70s if the next election does take place, as planned, in 2022. Will LAB want to go into the election with their flag carrier being in…

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It was a big CON to LAB Remain voter swing that cost the Tories their majority

It was a big CON to LAB Remain voter swing that cost the Tories their majority

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top psephologists Curtice & Ford confirm net GE17 traffic for Conservatives vs Lab re Brexit: no net Leave gain, significant net Remain loss pic.twitter.com/fLbesjBHrz — Faisal Islam (@faisalislam) October 10, 2017 It’s possible that LAB could’ve fared better with a unequivocal Remainer as head More serious analysis of the extraordinary GE2017 result is now coming out and is reflected in the Tweets above from leading political scientist Rob Ford of Manchester University who works closely with Prof John Curtice. The…

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Following her Boris paternity test joke Emily Thornberry becomes favourite to succeed Corbyn

Following her Boris paternity test joke Emily Thornberry becomes favourite to succeed Corbyn

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She might be the one facing TMay at the next election In the last few days there’s been a move to Emily Thornberry in the LAB leadership betting where she’s now favourite almost across the board. This all started with the suggestion a few weeks that she had the backing of UNITE’s Len McCluskey to succeed Corbyn whenever that happens. She then got a superb reception at last week’s Labour conference in Brighton (watch the video) particularly with her Brexit…

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Labour joy and Tory gloom

Labour joy and Tory gloom

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Don Brind reflects on the conference season A few weeks ago I was helping a front bencher prepare for a TV appearance and we guessed that one of the questions might be “Do you agree with Laura Pidcock?” She is the newbie MP who declared she wouldn’t hang out with Tory women because she regards them as “enemy”. The more emollient reply we came up with was: “There are some Tories I like. I just don’t want them running the…

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