Huge incumbency advantage tells as challengers had only 3 hours to seek postal voters
Barking MP Margaret Hodge has been reselected as the constituency party’s candidate after a bizarre meeting in which the right-wing candidates all (bar Hodge) spoke in favour of Jeremy Corbyn and Hodge talked of her support for Palestine.
A local member told the SKWAWKBOX:
The right-wing candidates were total charlatans to the point of embarrassment.
Another called the proceedings ‘farcical’.
Hodge enjoyed an enormous incumbency advantage, having a lengthy period to canvas for and collect postal votes, while challengers only knew they were on the shortlist three hours before the deadline for casting postal votes. There were also complaints that the postal ballots were being collated by a Hodge ally.
Hodge was also involved in ‘absolute mayhem’ at the local party’s annual general meeting earlier this month, which had to be abandoned and which resulted in a member threatening to call the police if Hodge didn’t stop pushing her.
Contrary to media claims, Hodge was ‘triggered‘ by the local right, not by left-wingers.
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I despair. If this can be allowed. There is no hope.
Maybe it is a good thing I have been forced to give up my membership if this is the sort of shenanigans that are allowed to go on in the party.
John Thatcher.,…You are correct,if we can’t get rid of the foul mouthed fish wife…and somone who braggs openly about calling the leader of the Labour party “A f..cking Anti Semite”. and is not even suspended then their is no hope for democracy inside the Labour party.Keep posting john the thought police cannot shut down everybody even if they would like to..!
This stink coming off this is more foul than her fish! How did the utter cunt pull it off? She’s certainly well-acquainted with the levers of corruption in the party.
We can but hope she gets the bum’s rush at the next election…
timfrom 29/10/2019 at 6:36 am
Could you find a way of expressing yourself that doesn’t involve the use of misogynistic language that Hodges can quote to garner sympathy and damage the left.
If the, ahem, cap fits…
“Contrary to media claims, Hodge was ‘triggered‘ by the local right, not by left-wingers.”
…..and the left yet again failed to take advantage of the situation and get their act together for the OMOV.
As bent as a nine bob note.
Your a fucking anti semite and a racist
I’m sorry you feel that way
200 claims of anti semitism 8 had substance
Is all we need to remind us of the vexatious claims and smears by Blairites
Do use quotation marks, Doug.
Doug – All the more reason why we should question why the Left in Barking and Momentum’s national organisation were so badly organised that Hodge won with over 50% in the first round.
DougWell youve all heard the Try party are the church of England at prayer….And john lansman is…..sorry…sorry dont want to be suspended by the thought police?
Ps….Tory party at prayer,!
Momentum caught out. Yeah. Right that’s unusual. TW all. Let’s get it on, we’ll hold the autopsy later. Regards comrades, you know who you are.
You’re
Well that saves me having to walk 500 yards to vote at the next election, unless, of course, there’s some kind of Socialist candidate on the ballot paper.
After the uncouth and foul mouthed Jess Phillips kept the Yardley nomination I thought nothing could surprise me but I have to admit I am taken aback to find that Margaret Hodge who behaved so dishonourably in covertly recording her private conversation with Jeremy Corbyn and releasing part of it to a hostile press was re-selected so easily .
Keep on about the children’s homes. It’s been a while but we’ve got Vaz. Things will start to move god willing. Best wishes.
CORRUPTION. Should call for a police investigation on this. It would be a waste of time complaining to the Labour Party HQ, they wouldn’t lend an ear unless the culprits were left wing
I despise Hodge and most of what she stands for BUT I have yet to see any actual evidence of corruption.
I despise everything foul mouthed fish wife stands for.!
Hold these scum to the posturing they did on the night: Pretending to be pro-Corbyn and pro-Palestine. NB for next time…
I’m sure, as most people know who read and follow skwawkbox, that the Electronic Intifada concluded that the JLM was re-founded in 2015, and for the obvious reason(s), but I don’t recall hearing anything about the Campaign Against Antisemitism, and when the group was established, etc. Anyway, they are registered as a charity and, as such, I did the obvious thing and checked them out on the Charity Commission’s website, and voila, they were registered as a charity on the 1st of October, 2015, and presumably formed two or three months prior to this (I believe the process takes a month or two to register as a charity).
I also did a search on their website using the most obvious term/word – ie antisemitism (I spelt it ‘anti-semitism’ initially, and got 104 results, and it then occurred to me to try it without the hyphen, and there were over one thousand results). They were in chronological order, as you’d expect, so I clicked on the ‘last page’ icon, and the very first article was dated the 30th of July 2015, around TWO months after Jeremy threw his hat in the ring, and by which time it had been crystal clear for well over a month from polling results that Jeremy was red-hot favourite to win the leadership contest.
The very NEXT article in the listing was/is so blatant it’s laughable…. dated a couple of days later on the 1st of August, it’s entitled ‘Our First Birthday’. Well I mean, you wouldn’t want anyone thinking that you specifically set up shop to target JC and his supporters, now would you, and next to no-one is gonna know any different of course, apart form themselves and their ‘backers’!
Anyway, the fourth article, posted on the 11th of August (2015), is entitled: ‘Jeremy Corbyn and Antisemites’! So it would appear that within two weeks of posting their first article, they finally get down to business (I mean it would have been MUCH too obvious had it been the very first article, or the second article, and so…..!). I haven’t read the ‘article’ as such yet, but this is how it begins:
The Campaign Against Antisemitism will always be apolitical and non-partisan. However, we also must not fear to call out antisemitism wherever we see it. Jeremy Corbyn hails from the far-left, and whereas far-right antisemitism is anathema to the far-left, Jewish conspiracy myths and Islamist antisemitism are often accommodated.
In the past week we have been approached by the Daily Mail to comment on two separate stories revealing Corbyn’s association with antisemites…..
(Ends)
Says it ALL really! And the fact that the DM contacted them in the ‘past week’ would appear to ALSO confirm that the CAA had only recently set up shop, and once they WERE, they no doubt contacted the DM et al to let them know that they were, and that they would be more than happy to comment on any related ‘story’.
https://antisemitism.uk/page/12/?s=antisemitism
So just to clarify, the JLM reformed in 2015, the CAA formed in 2015, and the LAA (Labour Against Antisemitism) formed sometime in 2016. No doubt those who formed the latter thought to themselves how there’s only the JLM and the CAA and LFI and the CST, so there’s obviously a need to set up a group to draw attention to, and combat A/S in the LP!
What a joke!!
Allan I have always wondered why Ivor caplin stood down in Hove…and started a PR company for international clients.He also was the first chairman of JLM.Knowing him from my hove years he was a very dangerous and ruthless operator and is still very active but for who?
Just came across the following DM article from August 2010:
Israel accuses UK of anti-Semitism: MPs outraged by Peres’s tirade against English
Israel president Shimon Peres has angered British MPs with an astonishing outburst in which he accused the English of being anti-Semitic…..
Last night, Andrew Rosindell, Conservative MP for Romford, said: ‘I am sad that he has made these wholly inaccurate comments, which do not accord at all with my experience of British views on Israel and people of Jewish faith.
‘It is inappropriate for the president of Israel to make a comment like that. Maybe he should spend more time here, get to know the British people and realise that we were at the forefront of defeating the Nazis in the Second World War.
‘The fact that we at some point may criticise the policies of Israel does not mean we are anti-Semitic any more than I would be anti-Arab if I criticised the policy of an Arab government.’
Brian Iddon, a Labour member of the all-party Palestine group, said: ‘We are always being accused of anti-Semitism. The Israeli government is coming in for more and more criticism, and because of that more and more people are being described as anti-Semitic.
Rabbi Dr Jonathan Romain, minister of Maidenhead synagogue, said: ‘I am surprised at Peres. It is a sweeping statement that is far too one-sided.
‘Britain has supported both Israeli and Arab causes at different periods over the last 50 years. There are elements of anti-Semitism but it is not endemic to British society.’
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1299415/Israel-accuses-UK-anti-Semitism-Shimon-Peress-anti-English-tirade-outrages-MPs.html
This isn’t accurate, Allan. Campaign Against Antisemitism wasn’t formed in 2015 in response to the threat of Jeremy Corbyn becoming Labour leader. It was launched in August 2014 during Israel’s war on Gaza. CAA’s first public activity was to organise a protest that month against the Tricycle Theatre’s decision to reject Israeli embassy sponsorship of a Jewish film festival. In January 2015 CAA caused controversy when it published a report on antisemitism which claimed that “more than half of all British Jews feel that antisemitism now echoes the 1930s”. This was widely condemned as inaccurate and inflammatory, including by the Institute for Jewish Policy Research. CAA is an appalling organisation, but if we’re going to criticise it we need to get our facts straight.
Some good research on the dates, Allan.
Good stuff. Keep digging it gets interesting. Take care.
Nasty horrible vicious piece of work
For some reason, I keep seeing Heath Ledger’s Joker sat clapping…
Ever get the feeling you’re being mocked as you desperately cling to what little hope you have?
Never voting Labour again…..True but I have a feeling that the British public have had enough of paying for austerity and city slickers….Johnson only enforces that veiw
And if you’ve never seen it, the following is from a piece by medialens (posted on September 12th, 2018):
Labour was defeated in the general election of May 7, 2015, causing leader Ed Miliband to resign. On June 3, the BBC reported that Corbyn had joined the contest to replace him. We monitored this period closely and it is simply unarguable that Corbyn was portrayed by journalists, and even party political foes, as a basically decent person. He was depicted as a left relic, certainly – irrelevant and ridiculous – but also as sincere and well-intentioned. There was no sense whatever in ‘mainstream’ media coverage that Corbyn was a malign individual.
In July, we conducted a ProQuest newspaper database search, which found the following hits for UK press articles mentioning:
‘Jeremy Corbyn’ and ‘antisemitism’ before May 2015 = 18 hits
‘Jeremy Corbyn’ and ‘antisemitism’ after May 2015 = 6,133 hits
None of the 18 mentions before May 2015 included any accusation that Corbyn was antisemitic. And it was not, as some people have claimed, that Corbyn, a leading anti-war MP, was unknown or unworthy of attention. ProQuest found 3,659 hits for ‘Jeremy Corbyn’ before May 2015.
(Ends)
Ah, but you see all the anti-semites were hidden in the woodwork waiting for the day when that notorious anti-semite Jeremy Corbyn – who had NEVER been associated with A/S until just a few weeks before he won the leadership contest – was elected leader, and they were then ALL emboldened to crawl out once he WAS. Or so the fascist FEW have convinced millions of people!
PS And no doubt there has been between two to three thousand MORE such articles published since then – ie as of since July last year!
http://www.medialens.org/index.php/alerts/alert-archive/2018/879-without-merit-jeremy-corbyn-antisemitism-norman-finkelstein-and-noam-chomsky.html
Sadly this result was never in doubt ,it was obvious from the moment I arrived Hodge knew she had won. I received a number of phone calls and emails from one candidate (whose husband I believe is a member of progress) and one call on Saturday from supporters of the other two. All responded to my comment that I wouldn’t be voting for Hodge because of her disloyalty by vowing their undying devotion to Mr Corbyn.Seems likely. An earlier poster commented on the lack of organisation on the left locally which is absolutely correct,the attempt to form a local Momentum group,a meeting called for mid afternoon on a working day,was cancelled due to lack of interest. The lack of canvassing time afforded d to all but Hodge and the lack of scrutiny on postal votes was mentioned by all three candidates and must surely be something the Party addresses .We must have a level playing field especilally when “big name” candidates like Watson,Hodge and Phillips are involved. Very dispirited today,the pub can’t open quickly enough.
Well this whole thing stank from day one and the result was never in question imo . I don’t quite understand what and why this even happened , unless it was some way of the RW in her CLP being able to re-establish her mandate to be their MP ?
Anyway what is becoming increasingly clear is that Momentum under the leadership of LAnsman is NOT up to the job as a organising home for leading the Left and he needs to go ASAP somehow .
Or a more representative , democratic movement takes its place . There are a lot of very good people in it but they need real democracy and leadership .
Maybe we just have to accept that as a broad church Labour can never be truly Democratically Socialist and it is just a ever so slightly less harsh Party than the Tories .
Either that or a new Democratic Socialist Party is started , without all the corruption that is now being seen within the organisation .
Anyhow on a positive note there has been a few wins for the Left and its a sunny day today !!
I don’t quite understand what and why this even happened , unless it was some way of the RW in her CLP being able to re-establish her mandate to be their MP ?
Did you somehow miss it! The whole of the media were blaming the left for triggering her (as SHE was too!), and castigating them for doing so. THAT’s why they did it. The fake reasons they gave for triggering her was that she’d told them she was standing down and then changed her mind, and that they wanted a candidate/MP who lived in the constituency!
“We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you’re studying that reality — judiciously, as you will — we’ll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that’s how things will sort out. We’re history’s actors . . . and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.”
Karl Rove
John lansman is well able to organise and momentum have given us a lesson or two on campaigning and organisation.Unfortunately lansman does no longer want a jeremy Corbyn government,and he and his pals are only interested in supporting the Israeli lobby.Maybe the the time as come for the membership of momentum to insist on democracy instead of the fiefdom that is lansman and momentum..Little wonder how Hodge swung the vote…..lansman
I tend to agree Joseph and with Lansmans past actions over Pete wilsman , Jackie Walker , and now Chris Williamson , I fear he really is a weight against a JC Govt .
Momentum is worth saving and fighting for , just need to get shot of Lansman and impose real democratic elections for the leadership
Except Landsman owns Momentum…
Well that’s not how I saw it Allan , I saw that the RW had triggered her reselection and that made no sense to me at the time and it still doesn’t now ,other than to re-affirm her strength of support for her continued attacks on Labour as per the instructions from the Govt of Israel .
The bigger and more important issue to me is contained in the rest of my comment thank you !
Yes, the right-wing CLP members DID trigger her re-selection, and then the left-wing CLP members were fraudulently accused of triggering her AND vilified and condemned for doing so by the whole of the MSM and, as I said, she herself fraudulently claimed to the media that she had been triggered by the left:
Here’s a couple of clips from a DM article:
Labour MP Dame Margaret Hodge has vowed to fight to keep her seat amid claims the Left wants to force her out for standing up to Jeremy Corbyn over anti-Semitism.
The Jewish MP, pictured, will face a reselection battle in her east London constituency after activists voted for the chance to pick a new candidate.
The Jewish Labour Movement called the vote a ‘shameful moment’ for the party as Dame Margaret, 75, has spent her career fighting anti-Semitism and the BNP.
And this from a Guardian article:
Tom Watson has accused a “hard-left faction” of jeopardising Labour’s electoral chances by forcing MPs to waste time and effort on local selection battles, after Margaret Hodge became the second MP to face reselection.
Watson, the party’s deputy leader, said on Sunday: “Our professional organisers, constituency activists and MPs are spending an extraordinary amount of time on internal selections when they could be preparing for an imminent general election.
Tories hold 12-point lead over Labour in latest poll
Read more
“I know the Jon Lansman-led hard-left faction on Labour’s NEC are committed to full reselections but they risk Labour’s chances of election success against Boris Johnson with their dogmatic behaviour.”
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/sep/29/tom-watson-accuses-hard-left-faction-over-margaret-hodge-reselection-effort
Um—————-! A big problem. Democracy should be respected that Jeremy and all of us want and advocate. If not should be questioned.
Yet again, Postal Ballots are the key! They cannot be trusted to corrupt factions.
Once again, the Groan has a good (not definitive – but an intelligent take) article on the selection process. It is a take on the puzzlement that is so often expressed here about the nature of Labour, CLPs and the decisions that emerge from all the conflicting interests during the process :
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/oct/28/replace-kate-hoey-local-party-stitch-ups-not-working
It essentially mirrors some of the more reflective comments that come from posters here who have actually been at disputed selection meetings.
Pederast enabler. Children were sexually abused as a DIRECT RESUULT of hodge’s cavalier attitude.
NEVER let it be forgotten. Burn in hell hodge.
We must keep hammering that home! Where it goes I don’t know but it won’t be cuddly and warm. Watch your back.
No wonder some locals refer to her as Margaret Hodgkiss with the tax dodger having a well-oiled local machine. Hope some heavyweight Leftie stands against this poisonous individual.
Comparing Hodge to ‘fishwives’ is an insult to ‘fishwives’ (whatever they are), but we need to understand that no system is designed to serve the people. The triumph of Hope over Reality is a killer if you believe anything will change, especially ‘trigger’ ballots; the Labour Party management is corrupt from top to bottom as Blairites still dominate. Serious questions still need to be asked about the make-up of the NEC.
This selection should be declared nil and void. There was no equal access/time for preparation. It appears to have been weighted in her favour. And that to me is bias, lacks fairness and therefore raises point for me that it was not democratic.