Theresa May’s fear-driven decision to call a snap General Election has raised hopes among Labour members that it may be an opportunity to deselect damaging, right-wing MPs.
Those hopes require extremely fast action on the part of CLPs (constituency Labour parties), but the reality is that they may be dashed by a Labour rule that may make it impossible to move fast enough in view of the likely election timetable.
Theresa May is putting forward her election bill tomorrow, after which the queen will issue a formal proclamation dissolving Parliament in readiness for the election, although it is not yet clear – as the Fixed Term Parliaments Act has never been tested in this way before – how quickly she will do so.
Deselection of a sitting MP is, according to the Labour rulebook, achieved via the complicated process of a ‘trigger ballot’, which is dealt with in Chapter 5 of the rules. But a single paragraph on page 26 of the 2016 rulebook overrides the whole process if Parliament is dissolved before it can take place:
In other words, if the queen dissolves Parliament very quickly after tomorrow’s vote, then there is no opportunity for Labour members to change poor, right-wing MPs and they’re stuck with the one they’ve got.
Keep a close eye on proceedings tomorrow and, if you want a new MP and the timetable leaves any kind of window for it, be prepared to move very quickly indeed.
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Reblogged this on perfectlyfadeddelusions.
“…If you want a new MP…” depends on Labour winning the seat. Although this prediction will not be popular, I fear Jeremy will resign on 9th June 2017, with Labour having had wholesale losses, although I shall do everything I can to get a Labour Government.
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People in the party need to focus all the campaign on policies and not personalities. It spoke volumnes on GMB when piers and Sussana said people like the policies but not you to Jeremy Corbyn. So this election has to be kept on policy. This will be a good time to see how the right wing of the party behaves when their gravy train seat is under threat.
As I am a pedant, I’ll just point out that there is now a 2017 rule book. Unfortunately, it’s the same rule.
That was from the 2017 rule book 🙂
BUt what a lot of folks miss regarding the JC factor is that it IS Corbyn who bought these policies to bear and if he is replaced then those policies will very quickly disappear to be replaced with whatever ones the Progress grp want i.e more Blairte shit
I guess now that we have the GE then those venal backstabbing MPs ( Dougher , Bradshaw ,Watson et al ) might just get behind JC and Labour once they get the wiff of a chance of power
I don’t care what Angela Eagle does through greedy self-interest. Labour don’t get my vote unless she stands down.
I understand your pain on this , but we simply cannot lose a single vote. If we want Corbyn ot win we simply have to overcome our individual problems and vote Labour.
I did it already – held my nose and voted for Brown and Miliband, and Blair. We cant afford to let the Tories win again. I am one of millions affected by the austerity cuts, and I feel that refusing to vote for Labour is a de facto vote for the tories. Honestly, it cuts very deep to think that people do not see the pain that this govt has already inflicted and are even now ramping up their attacks on the sick and disabled, and children. It is simply intolerable that anyone who has a vote would chose not to exercise it to stop the continuing needless deaths of many thousands of the most vulnerable.
Eagle betrayed her local CLP last summer and invented phantom charges, using the sympathetic right wing media to spread and justify them – charges which have since collapsed – because there was no evidence or substance to them. Meanwhile Wallasey CLP remain suspended. Why? Because they support Corbyn. That’s democracy apparently. Today, Eagle emailed local Wallasey members demanding that they support her in her election campaign whilst suspended. What would you do Florence? Hold your nose and toddle along?
A few years back, a number of learning disabled council tenants in Eagle’s constituency had £736,756.97 stolen from their bank accounts by Angela’s Labour party chums running the local council. Over a 9 year period. What did Angela do? Not a lot. It was too “awkward”. The council destroyed a number of whistleblowers in league with Unison – who were supposed to represent them, but didn’t because their good faith, public spirited actions risked exposing the fact that council and union were deep in each other’s pockets.
You do not and cannot understand ours or more importantly, vulnerable people’s pain here on Wirral.
Eagle saw their statutory protections being trashed, but sat mute, hoping the theft wouldn’t be exposed.
She needs to go. Now.
I know all about what happened. There may be that window to deselect. The corruption alleged in the council is a problem not confined to yours, and that seems to have been behind the most recent loss, too. We have a huge number of legacy problems from pre-2010. These can’t all be solved by our voters and activists sitting on their hands. We need to focus on the first task at hand – keeping the Labour vote solid and bringing in as many councillors (you do remember the local elections) in May. Then keeping that vote focussed on the GE17.
Yes I agree that Eagle demanding work and loyalty is beyond belief. If you have the chance to deselect then grab it, but to do that you have to be inside the party and working hard to do that, because no one else can. Same as in my constituency, but we have to hope our candidate wins against a Tory majority. I also would “hold my nose and toddle along” because ATM we have elections to try and win. If we have the luxury after the election we need to have a serious house clean. Seriously corrupt Labour officials must be dealt with.
At the end of the day, as one of the millions who have been made to bear the brunt of “austerity” cuts started under New Labour, under Cooper and Burnham, who created the systems and contracts to make victims out of the vulnerable, who has seen my own friends moved to self harm and suicide, yes, I’ll hold my nose. I really don’t want another of the corrupt selfservatives to be rewarded with reelection. But I also don’t want to see another 200,000 children pushed into poverty, another 150,000 disabled prisoners in their own homes, or another winter of death in A&E corridors or another 30,000 pensioners die too. It has to come down to which is the greater good, or the lesser evil.
You’re right, what has happened in your CLP is unconscionable, but I would rather take action against those killing tens of thousands and serve up revenge on those inside our party served up cold, once we are in power.
Wrong Florence. You state you ‘know all about what happened’, then in the next sentence state “The corruption alleged…” – it is NOT alleged. It was proven… beyond all doubt.
Further, there was a hell of a lot MORE of it going on at the Balls Road Supported Living site in Birkenhead, and in other Wirral locations, but ‘independent’ investigator Anna Klonowski backed off, stating she didn’t have the time to investigate it, breaching her remit and letting down all the disabled people here who were hoping to have their stolen money reimbursed.
Then to kick everybody in the teeth, she refused to investigate councillors, some of whom had connections to gangsters who owned ‘care’ companies and were evicting disabled tenants or opening up false bank accounts and raiding the cash that the council paid into them. Further, councillors were ensuring that these gangster care companies were attaining council accreditation to enable them to pick up more contracts. F*cking hideous conduct from LABOUR people.
And you say, “Alleged”. It’s getting late. I’m getting tired. Reading the word of people who are happy to wax lyrical about bogus ‘allegations’ and then are prepared to go and campaign on behalf of abusers sickens me.
I’m now going to bed. I will NEVER hand my mandate across to abusive politicians who are beyond all control and accountability. I won’t even do that now in the hope I might be able to deselect them in a few years’ time.
Because it would rot away at my soul and I would not be able to live with myself. I’ve lost two council jobs because I became the sort of person who it was difficult to be around if you wanted to just come in, turn a blind eye to abuse and collect your salary.
That was because I either blew the whistle or complained about uncomfortable truths and became the target of two sets of bogus ‘gross misconduct’ allegations.
I WON, BUT I LOST MY LIVELIHOOD (X 2)
I hope you don’t do that Florence, ignore unsavoury things for an easy life. But if you’re prepared to give your backing to crooks, even if their crookedness is not as bad as the Tories’ global and very in yer face and obvious variety, then I think you need to look in the mirror.
That’s why I personally can’t do it.
I hope that sinks in.
I used the term.”alleged” not to disparage you, but to protect this blog etc from malicious prosecution, as I’m sure you will find that entirely in the realm of behaviours by those you speak of. As for the rest, imho it is not appropriate to use the comments section here for reams of discourse. I do not doubt your veracity. Just have no desire to go from a simple attempt to lift our vote to fight the Tories to tribunal length submissions. I wish you well.
The SKWAWKBOX knows about malicious legal action. While we’re not responsible for the content of comments, we advise everyone to exercise sensible caution in their statements and to caveat anything that is not a matter of proven record as ‘alleged’.
Hope Angela doesn’t knock on my door.
Just heard 2nd or 3rd May is being mooted as the dissolution date. Enough time?
Your reasoning is plausible considering the rise of the Left in France and the EU but also having an Election before the Labour Party Conference in September. Which probably means they fear an exponential rise in support for Corbyn and massive losses for Blairites. In which case by 2020 the potential of the Labour Party winning a General Election would be much more of a threat than they perceive it is right now when we still have enemies within who quite possibly would rather see the Tories win than have a Socialist Government.
You’re doing a great job. Please keep us informed.
Thanks a lot.
I think the w/e polls showing up tp 80% approval of Labour policies, and the fact that this dropped by a few % when Corbyn was associated with the policies has out the fear into May and the RW of Labour. They have skillfully managed pols and misrepresented the man, but the policies shine through. This week end, Corbyn’s Easter message was pitch perfect. He was allowed to speak to camera on the main news broadcasts, and it was powerful stuff. The contrast with the proto-regal May became very obvious that she has just totally lost the plot.
The woeful Paul Waugh said this earlier. Jeremy Corbyn has requested trigger ballots by the NEC.
https://twitter.com/paulwaugh/status/854371831196913664
It is not going to happen. Diane Abbott rolled back from it on Ch 4 news. The NEC won’t approve it. Most likely scenario is all sitting MPs being auto selected and where there are vacancies the previous PPC being imposed by the NEC. There will not be many actual open selections.
Treacherous Angela Eagle who had her supporters in Wallasey suspended on phantom charges last year (now all collapsed, as expected) was emailing them today asking for their support “on the doorstep” in her upcoming campaign to keep the personal gravy train of 25 years standing running between obscene salary pick up points.
As for Wallasey members, they’re still suspended for nothing and expected to put out for the piece of dirt that removed their voice and who is also currently the unseen force behind wanting rid of former Vice-Chair Paul Davies, an innocent man… but who challenged Tory Frank Field in neighbouring Birkenhead in 1979… These vermin have very Loooooooong memories.
“Could not make it up” doesn’t even go near summarising this, the latest deeply hideous and Kafkaesque turn of events.
This fits with what this blog was told by an NEC member this afternoon. However, there is an emergency NEC meeting on Weds and the matter will not be finalised until then.
What happens if the sitting MP does not wish to stand again?
Then there’s a selection.