Middlesbrough MP Stuart Bell’s funeral was yesterday. Just after it I heard that the by-election for a new MP is likely to take place before the end of November, and applications for selection as Labour’s candidate have to be submitted in the next couple of days.
Yesterday evening, I received an email from Labour – a circular, not one addressed specifically to me – inviting applications, which have to be done via a CV downloaded from Labour’s site, but I can’t access the link because I haven’t been a Labour member for 12 months yet, having joined early this year.
You may of course disagree, but I’ve had a number of people suggest to me since I started this blog that I should stand as a candidate, and as a Middlesbrough boy born and bred, with a passion for my home area as well as for national issues, I’d love to at least put myself into the mix.
Since it appears that Labour’s process isn’t going to let me apply, I’m going to try something different. If it works, all well and good. If not, I’ll get behind one of the other local candidates and do what I can to help him. Only one way to find out whether it’s a good idea or a bad one, I guess.
If you’re a reader of this blog and/or enjoy my Twitter contributions, and you think I’d make a decent candidate, please write to the Labour email address that is collating applications (midd@labour.org.uk) and tell them why you think I’m worth considering – and then please drop me a brief comment on this article so I can gauge the response.
And if not, then thanks for reading this far anyway!