Gulf in class and capability across despatch box raises deputy leadership prospects
Analysis
Shadow Business and Environment Secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey deputised for Jeremy Corbyn at the Dispatch Box during today’s Prime Minister’s Questions, facing off against Tory David Lidington who stood in for Theresa May.
Lidington started with a lame joke and then had to endure fifteen or so minutes of dismantling by Long-Bailey as she took apart his attempts at answers and made his performance look like the tired old politics that it is.
Ms Long-Bailey maintained the momentum of her PMQs win with a tweeted video along similar lines shortly afterward:
SKWAWKBOX view:
Salford and Eccles MP Bailey has long been talked about as a prospective replacement for the disastrous Tom Watson and her performance today has amplified that conversation among Labour insiders.
That she would trounce Watson in a ballot of members and affiliates cannot realistically be questioned, as long as she could collect the fifty or so nominations among MPs and MEPs that she would need to force a contest.
The SKWAWKBOX needs your support. This blog is provided free of charge but depends on the generosity of its readers to be viable. If you can afford to, please click here to arrange a one-off or modest monthly donation via PayPal or here for a monthly donation via GoCardless. Thanks for your solidarity so this blog can keep bringing you information the Establishment would prefer you not to know about.
If you wish to reblog this post for non-commercial use, you are welcome to do so – see here for more.
What a star? Yes please, make the Labour Party even better with Rebecca as deputy instead of TWatson.
In fairness, it’s hardly a gargantuan task to outwit a toerag.
when
can TWatson be challenged
get retaliation in first
50 or so nominations from MPs (how many or so?) OK let’s start the ball rolling & petition our constituencies to request our MPs to nominate ‘Becky’ for Deputy. Start @ ward meetings.
Like everyone else I’d like to see the back of Tom Watson who is both conniving and disloyal and therefore totally unsuited to the post of Deputy Leader, a role which requires that he provide loyal support and assistance to the Leader.
However it would be madness to trigger a Deputy Leadership challenge at this time with the Tories leaderless and in free fall. We need to capitalise on their weakness at this time not engage in a distracting Deputy Leadership contest. We failed to do this in 2016 due to the Chicken Coup – lets not do the same again.Tom Watson will keep.
In relation to Rebecca’s performance at PMQ , lets hope Emily took note.
Don’t talk daft. Watson is on a dirty protest and is stinking the whole party out with the stench of his shit.
He is a severe electoral liability and must be removed immediately.
never works,
blairites wake up every morning and plan how they are going to shaft JC and party
TWatson and Hodge now, saves a lot of trouble, closer to GE
its a dirty job but it has to be done, so you may as well have some fun with it,
Internal Affairs and Doug
As I said at the outset I would like to get rid of Watson (and also a number of other Labour in Name Only MPs and “grandees”) I just don’t think now is the time to do it, not with Watson anyway.
Watson and others are devious and we have to make sure that we don’t dance to their tune – there is too much at stake. We cannot let them force our hand when the outcome will benefit them not us.
Re-selections will be coming soon – much better to let CLPs deal with Watson (and the other Labour in Name Only MPs) than get involved in a 3 month deputy leadership campaign- we have more important things to do.
Doug
“blairites wake up every morning and plan how they are going to shaft JC and party”
I believe it was Peter Mandelson on who said that very thing!
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/feb/21/peter-mandelson-i-try-to-undermine-jeremy-corbyn-every-day!
QED!
When I first saw Rebecca a while ago I knew she had a bright future ! She’s sharp and articulate and diligent !
Difficult to judge on a first showing for someone without a lot of experience at this game (and that’s what it is). The one noticeable thing was that she hasn’t yet got the hang of not obviously reading, which is what you need to be able to do.