Leadership Elections: First Reactions
This is the press release we put out this afternoon soon after the announcement of the Brown coronation and deputy leadership election results.
"Low Turnout Demonstrates Members Resentment at Lack of Leadership Election."
"Harman Victory as Deputy Evidences Effectiveness of Brown Machine Politics."
Commenting on the results of the elections for the deputy leadership of the Labour Party, former leadership candidate, John McDonnell said "The very low turnout amongst party members and trade unionists is a clear demonstration to Gordon Brown of the scale of resentment amongst our supporters at being denied a vote in a real leadership election. The election of Gordon Brown's own candidate to the deputy leadership evidences little other than the effectiveness of the machine poitics associated with the Brown camp but even Harriet Harman had to posture to the Left on the issues of Iraq, trade union rights and council housing in order to secure victory."
Ronan Bennett's article in today's Observer summed up for many their views on what a real leadership election debate could and should have concentrated on. These real world issues were largely ignored in the Gordon Brown tour and the deputy leadership hustings leading up to today's coronation. However they won't go away and neither will those socialists in our movement who are intent on addressing them.
"Low Turnout Demonstrates Members Resentment at Lack of Leadership Election."
"Harman Victory as Deputy Evidences Effectiveness of Brown Machine Politics."
Commenting on the results of the elections for the deputy leadership of the Labour Party, former leadership candidate, John McDonnell said "The very low turnout amongst party members and trade unionists is a clear demonstration to Gordon Brown of the scale of resentment amongst our supporters at being denied a vote in a real leadership election. The election of Gordon Brown's own candidate to the deputy leadership evidences little other than the effectiveness of the machine poitics associated with the Brown camp but even Harriet Harman had to posture to the Left on the issues of Iraq, trade union rights and council housing in order to secure victory."
Ronan Bennett's article in today's Observer summed up for many their views on what a real leadership election debate could and should have concentrated on. These real world issues were largely ignored in the Gordon Brown tour and the deputy leadership hustings leading up to today's coronation. However they won't go away and neither will those socialists in our movement who are intent on addressing them.
posted by John at 8:00 PM
7 Comments:
yes
we didn't have a contest for the post that mattered
but that wasn't your fault John!
Harriet Harmless safely elected.
What did you make of Gordon's speech?http://threescoreyearsandten.blogspot.com/2007/06/what-did-you-make-of-gordons-speech.html
No peck on the cheek for Harriet Harman when she got onto the stage, very telling.
We are about to see the most right wing government britain has ever had. I am becoming more religious as time goes on. It is the only hope left (that is not meant as a pun).
In a way it's good that it was Harman (in Brown's pocket) and Brown as we can watch them incriminate themselves.. I think Cruddas(though phoney) was actaually third by a narrow squeak acc to the results I've been emailed which is interesting.
I could never have voted for Harman as she voted to cut lone parent benefits and acc to Andrew Rawnsley's book she did it as a trade off for something else and then had to gall to go round saying she regretted it as she had the gall to suddenly start talking a bit leftie at the end of this election campaign. I'll never forget seeing her in the audience for the UNISON fringe last conference listening to the big four union leaders and others all slam the NHS privatisation (break-up and fragmentation) while the tent reverberated to the sound of drums from the disgruntled pensioners demo outside and she sat and did nothing apart from fiddling with her mobile; perhaps she was texting the conference platform who turned the mike off on Dave Prentis and wouldn't let John speak at the following session in the hall on health which had "mysteriously" been lumped incongrously together cut short. Ithought something was up as I was stopped from givng out some campaign leaflets alongside some bloke from Make Votes Count as the fringe meeting ended on the technically correct rule that you couldn't leaflet within the compound but the officials had left the MVCount bloke alone so I said shouldn't he also be banned so they had to ban him! Then I went in to hear Dave Prentis the general sevretary of UNISON cut off in mid stream, Stalinist Russia anyone??
Also when I made a conference sppech once I couldn't tell whether the warning light was red or orange so I actually had more time than I thought and so continued for longer after I though it hadcome on. Whether or not Dave had seen it he should have been allowed to make his point if the whole hall wanted him to and the whole hall erupted in support but guess what this was mysteriously wiped from the BBC Parliament coverage that I saw when I got home though this is supposed to be contemporaneous.
What we have definitely established from these incidentally money wasting and intellectually rather corrupt leadership elections/non-elections in the case of leader; elective dictatorship here we come is that the only person who was threat to Gordon Brown is John McDonnell as the latter is a true man of the people which Gordon will never be. We must keep this campaign going to that John IS a threat and we can run him again as candidate whenever the next chance is (pref not after we have lost the election but it could be after Brown has had his honeymoon??......
George, I think you may have to go the whole hog and move into a cave at the bottom of your garden: Brown/Harman in power can only mean religious tyranny, burnings at the stake, serfdom and slavery, the reconquest of France, and the heads of obstreperous council leaders stuck on the railings outside No. 10. The end is nigh!
I think we need to - and can - read some positive things into this result. For all that much of it was posture over a meaningless position, the two candidates who posited themselves most towards progressive positions - Cruddas and Harman - came third and first respectively. The most uber-Blairite candidate was humiliated in last place. Johnson, despite being trailed by bookies and media coverage as the nailed-on winner, didn't win.
Harman was my second choice behind Cruddas (though I had and have no illusions about either) but I certainly think we can respond to these elections with more than just bitterness. New Labour - in both its Blairite and Brownite incarnations - is intellectually weak and politically unpopular, within and without the party. And there's a space we can occupy as a result, if we do so imaginatively. And that means doing more than just complaining from the sidelines
Here are my own thoughts on the deputy leadership shenanigans and what next for the Labour left:
http://laboursfightback.blogspot.com/
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