The of five Councillors defecting on a local authority would make the news both locally and nationally – it would swing control of a large number of councils too – but these defections have a great deal of importance because they happened in a parliamentary seat where Labour are trying to fight off a strong Tory challenge. As I’ve said before, defections are pretty nasty things which tend to dominate for a few days before leaving the defector(s) largely as lame ducks and the people not properly represented. However when a group of councillors do it then you have to ask questions about the dynamics of that political group or the council.
Well done to Tory elections boss Grant Shapps MP for this one and it will give Tony Lit a real boost – but it says more about Ealing Labour. Sir Ming will be seething I’m sure!
The LibDems are doing much crowing about the so-called defection of the Deputy Chairman of Ealing Southall Conservatives over the selection of local buisnessman Tony Lit. I had no problem with this and I thought the LibDems had done well with this coup, until I discovered that Mr Gupta has himself applied to be the candidate and failed.
Such obvious sour grapes at his own failure is rather sad and pathetic and the party will be better off once these prima-donna’s all depart. Are you in this for your community, your constituents, your party or yourself?
I actually feel rather sorry for Mr Gupta, who clearly became an Association Officer in order to become the next candidate, because all of that time and effort was wasted. By jumping ship he’ll find himself as yet another failed LibDem council candidate. Shame.
It is worth reminding ourselves that the Tories outpolled the LibDems massivly at the last election and they only have one very lonely councillor on the Borough Council, compared to the majority Conservative controlled council! A rat joining a sinking ship?
Following his 24 hour burst of publicity, poor old deluded Quentin Davies looks like he is falling into already, however another recent defector seems to be doing rather much better. After the news that Tory turncoat Shaun Woodward has now been made Northern Ireland Secretary after being parachuted into a safe Labour seat, it seems that Labour switcher Rehman Christi has been for the notionally Tory seat of Gillingham and now must be odds-on to join the Conservative benches after the next election. It seems a little 50:50 if defectors go on to do well at the moment. I wonder if any other Tory, Labour or LibDem MPs fancy their chances?
It always makes me think about Paul Marsden who quit Labour for the LibDems and then changed back a few years later.
You have to hand it to Labour they always manage to pull it off – and the stream of Tory defectors (9 in 10 years) continues to swell their ranks and boost their PR. However they always manage to do this because of the line of Tory dimwits willing to aid Blair and Labour in their quest to bugger up Britain.
Quentin Davies is the latest MP to do this and the defection will give Brown a much needed boost on the day that he becomes Prime Minister. It is certainly bad news for the Cameron Big Tent and it does raise the issue of how many other MPs are so-discontented with his leadership. But…
I believe this whoe sorry affair says more about the judgement and character of Quentin Davies than it does about the Cameron leadership. Davies is one of the few people in politics that doesn’t see how Brown will chew him up and spit him out – being used by a party that he has fought against for 20 years and a politican he referred to as “losing control”, “imprudent” whom he hoped “something nasty” would happen to. Now Davies suddenly changes his mind. Do we really want this man on our benches specifically or even as a British member of parliament generally?
And this is before we come to his voting record. Quite frankly I hadn’t realised what a throw-back he was before looking into this in detail. He voted against gay rights, against the fox hunting ban, against anti-terrorism law and for the war on Iraq. If that is the person that the Labour Party want on their side then they are welcome to him. How Labour can accept Davies or how Davies can accept Labour is beyond me.
The truth is that this defection isn’t about policy, or leadership or even principle. It is about one rather tragic figure who will now find himself isolated on both side of the House of Commons. Judging by the mauling Davies got on Newsnight he has got some rough days ahead of him. I won’t shed any tears and look forward to the phrase “Con gain Grantham & Stamford” at the next election … because he won’t have the guts to fight a by-election.
I will leave this post with a true story. I spoke to a fellow Tory Councillor on the phone this afternoon. He said: “I was thinking about defecting to Labour until I heard they’d accepted Quentin Davies. Now I don’t think I’ll bother – I don’t want to be associated with people like him.” Well said, Councillor!
UPDATE: It should be pointed out that Mr Davies was a shadow cabinet member under IDS and now feels at home with Mr Brown. Who should be worried more by this – Iain or Gordon?
The Conservatives have been looking for a big name defection since Cameron became party leader. So far, certain LibDems have resisted the lure and even the Prince of Darkness Peter Mandelson has been touted (but refused by most sane Tory members).
I am pleased that tomorrow the defection will come in the shape of former Ulster Unionist Leader and peer (Lord) David Trimble. Trimble is the one of the most measured and intelligent politicians of his generation – a nobel prize winner and a man of principle. He is welcome into our party with open arms.
This defection may not surprise those who know Trimble closest nor will it send out that many shockwaves, but I alsways think you know somebody by who their friends are.
And if Cameron is bringing people like David Trimble into the party then that is very good news for us indeed.
Following the news that political dynamo Dawn Castle-Green has jumped ship from the LibDems to the Greens, it turns out another former Councillor has also done the dirty on the yellow party.
Simon Richardson was the Mousehold Councillor from 2000-2004 and made virtually no impact at all. He is most famous for standing in Bowthorpe in 2006 and having the cheek to put out a leaflet claiming that the Tories were out of the race and that only the LibDems could beat Labour (fact check, Con Gain). Even at the count, the poor deluded Mr Richardson still believed he may yet pull off victory. Only when the returning officer showed us the result did his conceed. Amazing.
I am sure SImon worked hard for the people of Mousehold during his tenure, but the Greens has better watch out because methinks his political radar may need some fine tuning!
There shouldn’t be anybody who is in the least bit surprised that Team Cameron are actively trying to get moderate figures in other parties to defect, in fact I’d be annoyed if some people somewhere weren’t spending every minute of every day planning some high profile swtiches. Admittedly Peter Mandelson is slighly beyond the pale for me, but everyone else seems like they could legitamtely live in Cameorn’s big tent.
However, two problems with making this explicit have become apparent. Firstly is how to cope when people like David Laws and Norman Lamb (pictured) say they won’t defect due to not being Tories. And secondly how we ask the people of their constituencies to vote Conservatives after heaping praise on them so much! Cameron has basically said these men are so good that we want them in our Shadow Cabinet … but please now vote for this other chap! Another example of good local activists being shot in the foot by the generals pistol.
Let’s focus on winning over defectors … but let’s do it in private please!
LibDems has better reach for that sherry bottle again as that three more LibDem candidates quit their party and join the Conservatives. Most pleasingly – for Cameron and the Conservatives that is – is that the three make up a union steward, a doctor and the man who wrote the LibDem LGBT manifesto. In a statement that must stick in the throats of all LibDem activists, one of them calls Sir Ming a “has been” and warns that the party is in “reverse gear”. Furthermore, another says that only the Conservatives can help the NHS.
This makes seven LibDem candidates to join the Conservatives this year, in which some LibDem blogs have been calling their “annus horriblis”. However, I have yet to find a single LibDem blogger who has commented yet – as points out, if this was a spate of Tory defections the gloating would be deafening.
I said that the polls didn’t matter for the LibDems but the trend does. This latest news certainly adds to that trend. Sir Ming might yet be in trouble.
, , , , | 
Posted by antonylittle 
, , , | 
Posted by antonylittle 
, , , , , , , | 
Posted by antonylittle 