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politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » George Galloway wants to be the Brexit candidate in Peterborou

SystemSystem Posts: 12,172
edited May 2019 in General

imagepoliticalbetting.com » Blog Archive » George Galloway wants to be the Brexit candidate in Peterborough and threatens to run an as indy if he isn’t

NEW: @georgegalloway tells me that he has approached @Nigel_Farage directly to say he wants to stand in Peterborough by-election for his Brexit Party. But if not selected, he could stand as an independent.

Read the full story here


«13

Comments

  • The_TaxmanThe_Taxman Posts: 2,979
    First!
  • Danny565Danny565 Posts: 8,091
    Has Galloway ever even stepped foot in Peterborough?
  • TheJezziahTheJezziah Posts: 3,840
    Arguably easier for a left winger to vote for Galloway than justify voting for Farage's party, although you still have the problem that Galloway signed up for Farage's party.

    He is better against a Blair type Labour party, up against a left wing one some of his appeal is gone. Not sure how normal Farage voters will take to him but I suppose it depends how important Brexit is to them.
  • Thayer5Thayer5 Posts: 97
    edited May 2019
    Nope. He only did well in Bradford because of the huge Muslim vote - 50%+. In Peterborough the Muslim vote is 6% or so.

    He would struggle to get more than 10%.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,772
    Does Galloway have any record in Peterborough? What is his campaign message going to be.

    Farage should tell him to sod off.

    Run Widdicombe instead.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,772
    Danny565 said:

    Has Galloway ever even stepped foot in Peterborough?

    One has to change trains there for some Eastern destinations (or did we I was travelling around back in the day).

    So probably yes, but only for 15 mins.
  • OblitusSumMeOblitusSumMe Posts: 9,143
    FPT - BenPointer:
    "The Telegraph will not of course reveal its source for the leak but supposing for a moment it wasn't Williamson - what's to stop them loudly proclaiming it wasn't him?"

    Because then people can accuse the next innocent and dare the Telegraph to loudly proclaim their innocence, etc.

    Hence why, "neither confirm, not deny..."
  • Thayer5Thayer5 Posts: 97
    > @rottenborough said:
    > Does Galloway have any record in Peterborough? What is his campaign message going to be.
    >
    > Farage should tell him to sod off.
    >
    > Run Widdicombe instead.

    Widdecombe would be my choice, too. She's a sensible old Tory, she's not posh, she will appeal to senior voters, and she's got a personal fan base cause of her novels and Strictly.

    She won't say anything stupid and she has no skeletons in the wardrobe. She could win it.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,772
    Thayer5 said:

    > @rottenborough said:

    > Does Galloway have any record in Peterborough? What is his campaign message going to be.

    >

    > Farage should tell him to sod off.

    >

    > Run Widdicombe instead.



    Widdecombe would be my choice, too. She's a sensible old Tory, she's not posh, she will appeal to senior voters, and she's got a personal fan base cause of her novels and Strictly.



    She won't say anything stupid and she has no skeletons in the wardrobe. She could win it.

    Is she not posh?

    Sounds posh to me, but I am NW England via Birmingham.
  • The_TaxmanThe_Taxman Posts: 2,979
    > @Thayer5 said:
    > > @rottenborough said:
    > > Does Galloway have any record in Peterborough? What is his campaign message going to be.
    > >
    > > Farage should tell him to sod off.
    > >
    > > Run Widdicombe instead.
    >
    > Widdecombe would be my choice, too. She's a sensible old Tory, she's not posh, she will appeal to senior voters, and she's got a personal fan base cause of her novels and Strictly.
    >
    > She won't say anything stupid and she has no skeletons in the wardrobe. She could win it.

    I seem to remember that when she was a politician she often made mistakes, gaffes if you like, that ultimately undermined the team she represented. She pretty much shoots from the hip in political mode and can be a liability.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,772

    > @Thayer5 said:

    > > @rottenborough said:

    > > Does Galloway have any record in Peterborough? What is his campaign message going to be.

    > >

    > > Farage should tell him to sod off.

    > >

    > > Run Widdicombe instead.

    >

    > Widdecombe would be my choice, too. She's a sensible old Tory, she's not posh, she will appeal to senior voters, and she's got a personal fan base cause of her novels and Strictly.

    >

    > She won't say anything stupid and she has no skeletons in the wardrobe. She could win it.



    I seem to remember that when she was a politician she often made mistakes, gaffes if you like, that ultimately undermined the team she represented. She pretty much shoots from the hip in political mode and can be a liability.

    My only, distant memory of her, is chaining women giving birth (who were also prisoners) to their hospital beds.

    Nasty, victorian values.
  • The_TaxmanThe_Taxman Posts: 2,979
    > @rottenborough said:
    > > @rottenborough said:
    >
    > > Does Galloway have any record in Peterborough? What is his campaign message going to be.
    >
    > >
    >
    > > Farage should tell him to sod off.
    >
    > >
    >
    > > Run Widdicombe instead.
    >
    >
    >
    > Widdecombe would be my choice, too. She's a sensible old Tory, she's not posh, she will appeal to senior voters, and she's got a personal fan base cause of her novels and Strictly.
    >
    >
    >
    > She won't say anything stupid and she has no skeletons in the wardrobe. She could win it.
    >
    > Is she not posh?
    >
    > Sounds posh to me, but I am NW England via Birmingham.

    Not posh like Cameron but she got her father to pay for her to do two degrees, so her family must have had some reasonable resources for that.
  • Scrapheap_as_wasScrapheap_as_was Posts: 10,069
    edited May 2019
    Spurs and Liverpool playing all too obvious rope-a-dope with their poor unsuspecting european opponents.

    Politics is just bonkers currently... trying to ignore it.
  • The_TaxmanThe_Taxman Posts: 2,979
    Widdicombe could come under the same scrutiny as Tim Farron on her opposing the legality of abortion, her opposition to various issues of LGBT rights such as an equal age of consent and the repeal of Section 28, her support for the re-introduction of the death penalty, the retention of blasphemy laws and her opposition to fox hunting.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Widdecombe
  • OblitusSumMeOblitusSumMe Posts: 9,143
    > @rottenborough said:
    > Has Galloway ever even stepped foot in Peterborough?
    >
    > One has to change trains there for some Eastern destinations (or did we I was travelling around back in the day).
    >
    > So probably yes, but only for 15 mins.

    In the disruption that followed the Hatfield rail crash, with speed restrictions across the network, I ended up spending too long on the platforms at Peterborough station one cold evening in early November, where I had the good fortune to see four simultaneous fireworks displays.
  • Thayer5Thayer5 Posts: 97
    edited May 2019
    > @The_Taxman said:

    > I seem to remember that when she was a politician she often made mistakes, gaffes if you like, that ultimately undermined the team she represented. She pretty much shoots from the hip in political mode and can be a liability. <

    ______

    Her wikipedia page shows she has some controversial and socially conservative views, born of her Catholicism, but she is at least consistent in that. She doesn't apologise. She abhors abortion AND she detests fox hunting.

    I can see TBP's demographic warming to that. At least she says what she believes and stands by it, she's not given to triangulation and platitudes. She's got enough anti-politician in her to suit the age of anti-politics.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Widdecombe

    Personally, I'm not a fan, but I don't live or vote in Peterborough.
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 51,884
    > @The_Taxman said:
    > First!

    Peterborough will be the second 2019 by-election!
  • CyclefreeCyclefree Posts: 25,318
    edited May 2019
    FPT: from @Richard_Tyndall

    “But looking from the outside the important point about the Scott case seems to be that there was indeed a confidential way in which she could report the fraud to the SRA at the time she became involved but she chose not to take that route. That does seem to be quite damning.”

    Yes. That is her second failing. Her first was in not telling the partners to sod off before resigning the first time a partner asked her to commit a fraud. That takes courage - but it is an essential component of integrity.

    And thank you for your kind comments on my article.
  • OblitusSumMeOblitusSumMe Posts: 9,143
    Candidates have been selected to represent the following parties at the Peterborough by-election:
    Labour
    Conservatives
    Liberal Democrat
    Green
    SDP
    UKIP
    Monster Raving Loony

    They have all managed to organise themselves. It's not like the by-election is much of a surprise. Why is it that Farage's publicity vehicles are always rubbish at the organisational side of fighting elections? There was all that farce of the constituency he would contest in 2015.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,237
    > @Thayer5 said:
    > Nope. He only did well in Bradford because of the huge Muslim vote - 50%+. In Peterborough the Muslim vote is 6% or so.
    >
    > He would struggle to get more than 10%.

    I think he could do better than that: he's won a wide variety of seats historically
  • John_McLeanJohn_McLean Posts: 71
    Problem with Galloway is that he has a track record of winning by-elections. If he stands, he will build a local party machine very quickly, boost the members ego's and, win. Because once elected, he won't give a monkeys for them, and they will be (Un)lucky if they ever see him again except on TV. It's his game plan, perfected several times
  • CyclefreeCyclefree Posts: 25,318
    I do get a bit of a sense that this Williamson affair could end up being another Westland. There seems to be as much focus on the Huawei decision as on the leak, much of it negative.
  • Scott_PScott_P Posts: 51,453
    Cyclefree said:

    I do get a bit of a sense that this Williamson affair could end up being another Westland. There seems to be as much focus on the Huawei decision as on the leak, much of it negative.

    https://twitter.com/SamCoatesTimes/status/1123704076393492482
  • StereotomyStereotomy Posts: 4,092
    FPT, replying to oxfordsimon:


    Well Labour has an environment policy, right? https://www.labour.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/The-Green-Transformation-.pdf and https://www.labour.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Achieving-6025-by-2030-final-version.pdf . Maybe there's a more up to date document or detailed document somewhere, I'm not sure. I don't know if that meets your standards for detail, but it seems pretty standard for an opposition party in midterm. Do you have some reference of work done by a more credible opposition party in the past to describe what you're looking for?
  • The_TaxmanThe_Taxman Posts: 2,979
    edited May 2019
    > @Thayer5 said:
    > > @The_Taxman said:
    >
    > > I seem to remember that when she was a politician she often made mistakes, gaffes if you like, that ultimately undermined the team she represented. She pretty much shoots from the hip in political mode and can be a liability. <
    >
    > ______
    >
    > Her wikipedia page shows she has some controversial and socially conservative views, born of her Catholicism, but she is at least consistent in that. She doesn't apologise. She abhors abortion AND she detests fox hunting.
    >
    > I can see TBP's demographic warming to that. At least she says what she believes and stands by it, she's not given to triangulation and platitudes. She's got enough anti-politician in her to suit the age of anti-politics.
    >
    > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Widdecombe
    >
    > Personally, I'm not a fan, but I don't live or vote in Peterborough.

    I am not a fan either! When she mooted running for the Tory leadership in 2001 I laughed but knew if she won it she would be trounced in any GE by an even greater margin than 1997 or 2001. What baffles me about her move to the Brexit Party is people of her ilk have the whip hand at the moment in the Tories. Maybe it is the fact she has been deprived of a peerage that has propelled her into the open arms of Farage! I doubt Widdicombe will be the candidate in Peterborough for the same reasons Farage is not standing: She is a candidate in the European elections and there is no party infrastructure in Peterborough.
  • OblitusSumMeOblitusSumMe Posts: 9,143
    Peterborough has had more than its fair share of close elections. While the majority of 607 last time looked small, it's actually only the sixth-smallest for the seat since WWII.
  • Thayer5Thayer5 Posts: 97
    > @rcs1000 said:
    > > @Thayer5 said:
    > > Nope. He only did well in Bradford because of the huge Muslim vote - 50%+. In Peterborough the Muslim vote is 6% or so.
    > >
    > > He would struggle to get more than 10%.
    >
    > I think he could do better than that: he's won a wide variety of seats historically

    Not true. Since leaving Labour, he has won Bethnal Green and Bradford West, quite possibly the two seats with the highest proportion of Muslim voters in the UK. He knows his market.

    Peterborough is entirely different. TBP would be bonkers to choose him.

    Paradoxically, if he stands as an indy, he would likely split the leftwing vote, and might give Farage's party an even better chance.
  • oxfordsimonoxfordsimon Posts: 5,842
    > @John_McLean said:
    > Problem with Galloway is that he has a track record of winning by-elections

    No - he has won one. And not as an independent - and the Bradford seat was a very particular set of circumstances that he exploited very cleverly.

    That doesn't apply to the Peterborough seat for reasons pointed out below
  • The_TaxmanThe_Taxman Posts: 2,979
    > @Cyclefree said:
    > I do get a bit of a sense that this Williamson affair could end up being another Westland. There seems to be as much focus on the Huawei decision as on the leak, much of it negative.

    Lets hope Corbyn does not do a Kinnock and let the PM off the ropes!
  • EndillionEndillion Posts: 4,976
    > @rcs1000 said:
    > > @Thayer5 said:
    > > Nope. He only did well in Bradford because of the huge Muslim vote - 50%+. In Peterborough the Muslim vote is 6% or so.
    > >
    > > He would struggle to get more than 10%.
    >
    > I think he could do better than that: he's won a wide variety of seats historically

    Er, has he? If you ignore the Glasgow seat that anyone with a red rosette would have won, all he's won is two seats with very large Muslim populations.
  • rkrkrkrkrkrk Posts: 8,298
    > @Cyclefree said:
    > I do get a bit of a sense that this Williamson affair could end up being another Westland. There seems to be as much focus on the Huawei decision as on the leak, much of it negative.

    BBC reporting there were other concerns with Williamson that the leak inquiry showed up. Mordaunt looks a significant upgrade.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 123,156
    edited May 2019
    Peston predicts 405 to 800 Tory losses tomorrow based on academic research.

    Would be worst Tory losses in local elections since 1996 but still better than Tory losses in 1995 when on the same cycle they lost over 2000 seats
  • Thayer5Thayer5 Posts: 97
    > @Scott_P said:
    > https://twitter.com/ShippersUnbound/status/1123705268318154753
    >
    >
    >
    > https://twitter.com/iainmartin1/status/1123706249835626500

    Is there anything Theresa May has done, as prime minister, that she WON'T live to regret? She's a walking catastrophe, in kitten heels. Everything she touches turns to merde.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,772
    NYT:

    "Two days after Joseph R. Biden Jr. defined his 2020 campaign as a mission to take back blue-collar voters, his close relationship with unions was already getting under the skin of President Trump, as the two men tussle over labor support in crucial Midwestern swing states.

    With a blizzard of nearly 60 tweets and retweets on Wednesday, Mr. Trump attacked the leadership of a national firefighters’ union after it formally endorsed Mr. Biden, calling it “this dues sucking union,’’ and the president retweeted dozens of individuals claiming to be firefighters who support him.

    It seemed a clear sign that Mr. Trump, who made inroads with rank-and-file union voters in 2016, especially in the industrial Midwest, was anxious about their loyalty. His Twitter posts — like an earlier attack on a United Autoworkers local president in Ohio — attempted to set rank-and-file union members against union leadership.

    “Clearly he’s very worried about Joe Biden and the unions,’’ said Rick Bloomingdale, president of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO"


    More reasons to put age worry aside and make Biden the nominee.
  • rkrkrkrkrkrk Posts: 8,298
    > @Stereotomy said:
    > Shipman not a happy bunny
    >
    > https://twitter.com/ShippersUnbound/status/1123635612656050176

    I pick up the phone from time to time.
    You leak national security information.
    He/she may be prosecuted etcetc
  • Thayer5Thayer5 Posts: 97
    > @HYUFD said:
    > Peston predicts 405 to 800 Tory losses tomorrow based on academic research

    lol. 'Journalist makes prediction so vague it cannot fail to come sort of true "based on academic research"'
  • CyclefreeCyclefree Posts: 25,318
    Is what Williamson is alleged to have leaked an official secret or intelligence in any case? Wasn’t it all about which Ministers opposed May’s decision? This is bog standard stuff which seems to fill the papers every day.

    Or is May simply embarrassed at the revelation that she went against the advice of the Ministers and officials with the most direct knowledge and expertise in security and intelligence matters?

    It’s not as if May has a great record at listening to advice from those with expertise.
  • isamisam Posts: 41,118
    edited May 2019
    In 2017, Leave voters in Peterborough would have voted either Labour or Tory & in the expectation they’d deliver Brexit. They conspired not to, so I wouldn’t take much notice of the last GE splits if I were betting on the outcome of June’s by election
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 54,629
    Thayer5 said:

    > @rcs1000 said:

    > > @Thayer5 said:

    > > Nope. He only did well in Bradford because of the huge Muslim vote - 50%+. In Peterborough the Muslim vote is 6% or so.

    > >

    > > He would struggle to get more than 10%.

    >

    > I think he could do better than that: he's won a wide variety of seats historically



    Not true. Since leaving Labour, he has won Bethnal Green and Bradford West, quite possibly the two seats with the highest proportion of Muslim voters in the UK. He knows his market.



    Peterborough is entirely different. TBP would be bonkers to choose him.



    Paradoxically, if he stands as an indy, he would likely split the leftwing vote, and might give Farage's party an even better chance.

    Is the right answer.

    Farage needs to let George do his own thing, and come up with a well-known but clean local candidate, on a platform of “f... the politicians”. Maybe a local businessman.
  • Harris_TweedHarris_Tweed Posts: 1,337
    I’m not at all convinced Farage would be doing the right thing (for him) by bringing in George Galloway.

    A bit like Claire Fox and the IRA, there’ll be stuff in his back story which appals the BP base, and I don’t see him attracting many WWC Lab leavers. Farage-era UKIP worked because it attracted plenty of nasty right wingers without itself advancing too many such policies. If he moves too far to convince people BP is as much left-wing as right, a significant wedge will
    Go back to Batten and co.

    And although it doesn’t matter for the Euros, I suspect some sort of common policy platform between the leader and its would-be only MP would be needed ahead of a Westminster by-election. There’d also be a bust-up between two massive egos soon enough.

    Farage is far better off bringing in the Widdecombes of this world IMO - delight his base and persuading wavering Brexiteer Tories the water’s OK.
  • EndillionEndillion Posts: 4,976
    > @Cyclefree said:
    > Shipman not a happy bunny
    >
    >
    >
    > https://twitter.com/ShippersUnbound/status/1123635612656050176
    >
    >
    >
    > Is what Williamson is alleged to have leaked an official secret or intelligence in any case? Wasn’t it all about which Ministers opposed May’s decision? This is bog standard stuff which seems to fill the papers every day.
    >
    > Or is May simply embarrassed at the revelation that she went against the advice of the Ministers and officials with the most direct knowledge and expertise in security and intelligence matters?
    >
    > It’s not as if May has a great record at listening to advice from those with expertise.

    Apparently this is the first ever leak from the National Security Council. Quite why it's ok for them to leak from Cabinet is beyond me.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 54,629
    Ah, so he was known to have spent 11 minutes on the phone to the Telegraph’s office, on the same day that a meeting he attended got leaked to that same newspaper. But he had nothing to do with it. Right.
  • StereotomyStereotomy Posts: 4,092
    Sandpit said:

    Ah, so he was known to have spent 11 minutes on the phone to the Telegraph’s office, on the same day that a meeting he attended got leaked to that same newspaper. But he had nothing to do with it. Right.
    As unlikely as it is, there's a small part of me holding out hope that May fired the wrong guy, because it would be so, so funny.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,772

    I’m not at all convinced Farage would be doing the right thing (for him) by bringing in George Galloway.



    A bit like Claire Fox and the IRA, there’ll be stuff in his back story which appals the BP base, and I don’t see him attracting many WWC Lab leavers. Farage-era UKIP worked because it attracted plenty of nasty right wingers without itself advancing too many such policies. If he moves too far to convince people BP is as much left-wing as right, a significant wedge will

    Go back to Batten and co.



    And although it doesn’t matter for the Euros, I suspect some sort of common policy platform between the leader and its would-be only MP would be needed ahead of a Westminster by-election. There’d also be a bust-up between two massive egos soon enough.



    Farage is far better off bringing in the Widdecombes of this world IMO - delight his base and persuading wavering Brexiteer Tories the water’s OK.

    Farage needs to constantly balance attracting egotists with a public profile, or the potential to light up day time TV and therefore gain one, with his need to be the one and only top man.

    Galloway is surely way too much trouble on that score.
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,698
    https://twitter.com/ShippersUnbound/status/1123705268318154753

    Which headlines exactly has Williamson turned around?

    TIMES: Williamson sacked by May over Huawei leak
    EXPRESS: Sacked for treachery
    I: Williamson sacked as Defence Secretary
    MAIL: You’re Fired....I didn’t do it!
    GUARDIAN: May tells defence secretary: you leaked, you are fired
    METRO: Go Huawei and shut up
    FT: May fires Williamson for Huawei leak from intelligence committee
    MIRROR: Sacked leak minister faces Jail
    TELEGRAPH: You’ve got the wrong man, Williamson tells May
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 54,629
    Endillion said:

    > @Cyclefree said:

    > Shipman not a happy bunny

    >

    >

    >

    >



    >

    >

    >

    > Is what Williamson is alleged to have leaked an official secret or intelligence in any case? Wasn’t it all about which Ministers opposed May’s decision? This is bog standard stuff which seems to fill the papers every day.

    >

    > Or is May simply embarrassed at the revelation that she went against the advice of the Ministers and officials with the most direct knowledge and expertise in security and intelligence matters?

    >

    > It’s not as if May has a great record at listening to advice from those with expertise.



    Apparently this is the first ever leak from the National Security Council. Quite why it's ok for them to leak from Cabinet is beyond me.
    To be fair, it’s only this year that every paper has been live-blogging Cabinet meetings.
  • Thayer5Thayer5 Posts: 97
    > @CarlottaVance said:
    > https://twitter.com/ChristianJMay/status/1123709856660295680

    I make of that the obvious fact that every sentient Briton hates all politicians, right now, and would gladly see them ALL fired.

    I don't read it as a particular abhorrence for Williamson.
  • CyclefreeCyclefree Posts: 25,318
    Endillion said:

    > @Cyclefree said:

    > Shipman not a happy bunny

    >

    >

    >

    >



    >

    >

    >

    > Is what Williamson is alleged to have leaked an official secret or intelligence in any case? Wasn’t it all about which Ministers opposed May’s decision? This is bog standard stuff which seems to fill the papers every day.

    >

    > Or is May simply embarrassed at the revelation that she went against the advice of the Ministers and officials with the most direct knowledge and expertise in security and intelligence matters?

    >

    > It’s not as if May has a great record at listening to advice from those with expertise.



    Apparently this is the first ever leak from the National Security Council. Quite why it's ok for them to leak from Cabinet is beyond me.
    It’s the first leak from the NSC we know about. But what he’s leaked (allegedly) seems no different to what’s leaked from Cabinet, day in, day out. Of course, you’re right - they should not really be leaking at all but they hardly give the impression of being in the same party let alone the same Cabinet. So it’s the new normal.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,772
    The view of the U.S. in 2050 that the public sees in its crystal ball includes major changes in the country’s political leadership. Nearly nine-in-ten predict that a woman will be elected president

    https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2019/03/21/public-sees-an-america-in-decline-on-many-fronts/

    Fascinating look into how US sees its future.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,237
    edited May 2019
    Hmmm, vanilla stole my comment.

    I'd make Brexit 3-to-2 to win this, given a generic candidate.

    @isam - what's your guesstimate of the right odds?
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 82,133
    Given what a shit newspaper the Telegraph is these days, why anybody would want to spend 10 minutes of their day talking to any of them (to leak or not) is beyond me.
  • CyclefreeCyclefree Posts: 25,318
    Isn’t Penny Mordaunt one of those Brexiteers who lied about Turkey’s accession during the referendum campaign? Why does everyone rate her?
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 123,156
    edited May 2019
    > @The_Taxman said:
    > > @Thayer5 said:
    > > > @The_Taxman said:
    > >
    > > > I seem to remember that when she was a politician she often made mistakes, gaffes if you like, that ultimately undermined the team she represented. She pretty much shoots from the hip in political mode and can be a liability. <
    > >
    > > ______
    > >
    > > Her wikipedia page shows she has some controversial and socially conservative views, born of her Catholicism, but she is at least consistent in that. She doesn't apologise. She abhors abortion AND she detests fox hunting.
    > >
    > > I can see TBP's demographic warming to that. At least she says what she believes and stands by it, she's not given to triangulation and platitudes. She's got enough anti-politician in her to suit the age of anti-politics.
    > >
    > > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Widdecombe
    > >
    > > Personally, I'm not a fan, but I don't live or vote in Peterborough.
    >
    > I am not a fan either! When she mooted running for the Tory leadership in 2001 I laughed but knew if she won it she would be trounced in any GE by an even greater margin than 1997 or 2001. What baffles me about her move to the Brexit Party is people of her ilk have the whip hand at the moment in the Tories. Maybe it is the fact she has been deprived of a peerage that has propelled her into the open arms of Farage! I doubt Widdicombe will be the candidate in Peterborough for the same reasons Farage is not standing: She is a candidate in the European elections and there is no party infrastructure in Peterborough.
    Widdecombe got a big personal vote in Maidstone and had she won the leadership in 2001 would have been a heavy hitter and could have got under Blair's skin
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 54,629

    Sandpit said:

    Ah, so he was known to have spent 11 minutes on the phone to the Telegraph’s office, on the same day that a meeting he attended got leaked to that same newspaper. But he had nothing to do with it. Right.
    As unlikely as it is, there's a small part of me holding out hope that May fired the wrong guy, because it would be so, so funny.
    Maybe I make the wrong assumption, when I think that the PM would have had a whole bunch of spooks clearly visible for the past few days, looking into how the meeting got leaked to a newspaper. If the guy who was caught on the phone to the same newspaper was evasive about it, I don’t have much sympathy for him when he gets fired.

    Don’t newspapers and politicians not realise that everything electronic is monitored, and use old fashioned clandestine meetings and drops any more?
  • StereotomyStereotomy Posts: 4,092
    I don't get comments like this. If a politician goes out of their way to draw attention to a person on the opposing side, it's not going to be because they think that person's really good. People don't talk about their opponents' strengths.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 123,156
    Richard Tice is more likely to be the Brexit Party candidate and has a good chance of taking the seat
  • GIN1138GIN1138 Posts: 22,293
    Nigel needs to keep away of the Gorgeous One this time.

    Brexit Party need a candidate that's high profile but completely out of the political scene...
  • Thayer5Thayer5 Posts: 97
    edited May 2019
    > @Cyclefree said:
    > Isn’t Penny Mordaunt one of those Brexiteers who lied about Turkey’s accession during the referendum campaign? Why does everyone rate her? <

    ______

    Because she seems personable and approachable, she's got a quite impressive backstory, she speaks human, and is clearly intelligent, if not a genius.

    More importantly, the meagre alternatives are a querulous, anti-Semitic old Trotskyite, or..... someone in the Tory party. May the saints preserve us.
  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 60,216
    https://twitter.com/notcapnamerica/status/1123663572343586816

    I can understand why he doesn't want to appear again.....
  • RogerRoger Posts: 19,914
    edited May 2019
    > @Cyclefree said:
    > Isn’t Penny Mordaunt one of those Brexiteers who lied about Turkey’s accession during the referendum campaign? Why does everyone rate her?

    Yes she is and lying is de rigueur these days. She also used the word cock which apparently showed a sense of humour. Personally I think she's hopeless
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,163
    > @Stereotomy said:
    > Nige sees a threat:
    >
    > https://twitter.com/Nigel_Farage/status/1123712347367931906
    >
    >
    >
    > I don't get comments like this. If a politician goes out of their way to draw attention to a person on the opposing side, it's not going to be because they think that person's really good. People don't talk about their opponents' strengths.

    I think there is occasionally a sitution wherein politicians focus in on a particular person on the opposing side because they think they are a political threat and they want to try to undermine them now before that happens. But I think it happens a lot less than people suggest - you see it all the time 'they attack x because they fear x' - when most of the time I'd think if someone highlights an opponent and says they are crap it is because they think they are crap.> @Cyclefree said:
    > Isn’t Penny Mordaunt one of those Brexiteers who lied about Turkey’s accession during the referendum campaign? Why does everyone rate her?

    Honestly I thought she was one of the ones who had flounced out of the Cabinet already.> @Thayer5 said:
    > > @CarlottaVance said:
    > > https://twitter.com/ChristianJMay/status/1123709856660295680
    >
    > I make of that the obvious fact that every sentient Briton hates all politicians, right now, and would gladly see them ALL fired.
    >
    > I don't read it as a particular abhorrence for Williamson.

    I would agree with that. Wonks like us may be more aware of details which lead to disdain for him, but for most normal people 'X is sacked' is a good story in its own right regardless of who it is.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,163
    > @Benpointer said:
    > https://twitter.com/ShippersUnbound/status/1123705268318154753
    >
    > Which headlines exactly has Williamson turned around?
    >
    > TIMES: Williamson sacked by May over Huawei leak
    > EXPRESS: Sacked for treachery
    > I: Williamson sacked as Defence Secretary
    > MAIL: You’re Fired....I didn’t do it!
    > GUARDIAN: May tells defence secretary: you leaked, you are fired
    > METRO: Go Huawei and shut up
    > FT: May fires Williamson for Huawei leak from intelligence committee
    > MIRROR: Sacked leak minister faces Jail
    > TELEGRAPH: You’ve got the wrong man, Williamson tells May

    I'm also not sure what precedentis are supposed to have been set. Whether May was right he was the likely culprit if she has been presented with reasonable grounds to suppose he was it was a reasonable action.
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 51,884
    > @Cyclefree said:
    > Isn’t Penny Mordaunt one of those Brexiteers who lied about Turkey’s accession during the referendum campaign? Why does everyone rate her?

    I think she looks OK :)
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,617
    > @Sandpit said:
    > https://twitter.com/tianran/status/1123688199136657408
    >
    >
    >
    > Ah, so he was known to have spent 11 minutes on the phone to the Telegraph’s office, on the same day that a meeting he attended got leaked to that same newspaper. But he had nothing to do with it. Right.

    In itself, enough for the Prime Minister to rightly have her trust in the guy undermined to the point where he's out. Ironically, if it had been a Brexit-related leak, she wouldn't have been strong enough to sack him for that. But national security? The rest of the Cabinet will at least rally round that decision.
  • FloaterFloater Posts: 14,207
    looking forward to the tories getting an absolute monstering tomorrow
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,163
    > @HYUFD said:
    > Peston predicts 405 to 800 Tory losses tomorrow based on academic research.
    >

    I'd make the same prediction, I would clearly make a great pundit.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 82,133
    Surely May must have received convincing evidence against Williamson. Have the spooks been on the case?
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,163
    > @Floater said:
    > looking forward to the tories getting an absolute monstering tomorrow

    What would count as a monstering? Fairly big losses 9 years into government would not be astounding, though of course it would be very bad for them regardless, so expectations management wise, how big is unusually big a loss?
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,237
    Ah, posted to the wrong thread:

    > @brokenwheel said:
    > Using the conversion rate of an EP poll, where the smaller pool of likely voters are more engaged than in a general or by-election, is a bit disingenuous. The latest yougov has TBP getting 30% of Leavers in its Westminster poll, so TBP only has a chance either in very heavily leave areas, or areas where the demographics mean that the extra voters who turn up in a general are less inclined to vote for one of the mainstream parties. Peterborough is not such a place.

    Sure, but the Brexit Party (and the LibDems, Greens and ChUK) should do better at by-elections than at General Elections.

    UKIP managed a string of impressive performances in the 2010 to 2015 period, against a more credible government. I might mention Eastleigh (+24%), South Shields (+24%), Wythenshawe (+14%), Newark (+22%), Heywood & Middleton (+36%).

    I know you're keen to play the expectations management game, and I get that, but the Brexit Party should get at least 35%. And if I can get anything better than 3-2 at the bookies on them winning the seat, I will be piling on. Really, chances won't come much better than this.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,163
    > @GIN1138 said:
    > Nigel needs to keep away of the Gorgeous One this time.
    >
    > Brexit Party need a candidate that's high profile but completely out of the political scene...

    Poor George, does no one want him anymore?
  • Harris_TweedHarris_Tweed Posts: 1,337
    This is so obvious I guess it’s already been suggested and probably dismissed, but is Stewart Jackson temptable into BP?

    The one whose Twitter handle is already BrexitStewart? Who lost his seat to Fifi in May’s ill-advised 2017 election? Who then lost his gig as Davis’s chief of staff when DD quit? Who’s posted plenty of anti-cabinet and even pro-Farage stuff recently? Who’s deffo straight-talking in the Farage mould, but his fame doesn’t stretch beyond Fletton Parkway to compete with him nationally?
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,163
    > @John_McLean said:
    > Problem with Galloway is that he has a track record of winning by-elections. If he stands, he will build a local party machine very quickly, boost the members ego's and, win. Because once elected, he won't give a monkeys for them, and they will be (Un)lucky if they ever see him again except on TV. It's his game plan, perfected several times

    Eventually game plans stop working.
  • GIN1138GIN1138 Posts: 22,293
    edited May 2019
    > @Floater said:
    > looking forward to the tories getting an absolute monstering tomorrow

    Have you got a bottle or three ready to celebrate with? :D
  • Peter_the_PunterPeter_the_Punter Posts: 14,355
    > @Thayer5 said:
    > > @CarlottaVance said:
    > > https://twitter.com/ChristianJMay/status/1123709856660295680
    >
    > I make of that the obvious fact that every sentient Briton hates all politicians, right now, and would gladly see them ALL fired.
    >
    > I don't read it as a particular abhorrence for Williamson.

    No, I think there was a particular abhorrence for this one amongst those of us that follow these things, and I imagine that would include most of the said audience.

    For a start, he had no apparent qualifications for the position. His appointment made sense only in terms of bolstering the PM's fragile position. He also seemed to be pretty unpopular amongst colleagues. That's maybe not a bad thing in a Whip, but a Defence Secretary?

    Finally and perhaps most important, he appeared to be not up to the job, and this showed long before the current fiasco.
  • _Anazina__Anazina_ Posts: 1,810

    > @rottenborough said:

    > > @rottenborough said:

    >

    > > Does Galloway have any record in Peterborough? What is his campaign message going to be.

    >

    > >

    >

    > > Farage should tell him to sod off.

    >

    > >

    >

    > > Run Widdicombe instead.

    >

    >

    >

    > Widdecombe would be my choice, too. She's a sensible old Tory, she's not posh, she will appeal to senior voters, and she's got a personal fan base cause of her novels and Strictly.

    >

    >

    >

    > She won't say anything stupid and she has no skeletons in the wardrobe. She could win it.

    >

    > Is she not posh?

    >

    > Sounds posh to me, but I am NW England via Birmingham.



    Not posh like Cameron but she got her father to pay for her to do two degrees, so her family must have had some reasonable resources for that.

    Nor is she sensible. She’s a homophobic, sexophobic superstitious plonker.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 123,156
    Ed Miliband's mini me on Peston
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 123,156
    edited May 2019
    > @kle4 said:
    > > @Floater said:
    > > looking forward to the tories getting an absolute monstering tomorrow
    >
    > What would count as a monstering? Fairly big losses 9 years into government would not be astounding, though of course it would be very bad for them regardless, so expectations management wise, how big is unusually big a loss?

    In 1995 the Tories lost 2000 seats, unquestionably a big loss. In 1999 Labour lost 1,161 seats unquestionably a big loss.

    The Tories are unlikely to do that badly but could lose 800 seats, equivalent to the losses Labour suffered in 2003
  • _Anazina__Anazina_ Posts: 1,810
    kle4 said:

    > @HYUFD said:

    > Peston predicts 405 to 800 Tory losses tomorrow based on academic research.

    >



    I'd make the same prediction, I would clearly make a great pundit.


    I honestly had no idea there were elections on! Do they apply to London?
  • StereotomyStereotomy Posts: 4,092
    Sandpit said:

    Sandpit said:

    Ah, so he was known to have spent 11 minutes on the phone to the Telegraph’s office, on the same day that a meeting he attended got leaked to that same newspaper. But he had nothing to do with it. Right.
    As unlikely as it is, there's a small part of me holding out hope that May fired the wrong guy, because it would be so, so funny.
    Maybe I make the wrong assumption, when I think that the PM would have had a whole bunch of spooks clearly visible for the past few days, looking into how the meeting got leaked to a newspaper. If the guy who was caught on the phone to the same newspaper was evasive about it, I don’t have much sympathy for him when he gets fired.

    Don’t newspapers and politicians not realise that everything electronic is monitored, and use old fashioned clandestine meetings and drops any more?
    You must be right, May wouldn't fired him unless she was completely, 100% certain, right? Surely. Yeah, she wouldn't have, I'm sure she... I mean, unless... but, no, no she wouldn't. Even if-- no, it's not worth thinking about. It was definitely him, end of story.

    ...Right?
  • Peter_the_PunterPeter_the_Punter Posts: 14,355
    > @GIN1138 said:
    > > @Floater said:
    > > looking forward to the tories getting an absolute monstering tomorrow
    >
    > Have you got a bottle or three ready to celebrate with? :D

    What are the benchmarks? I'd say 500 losses not too bad, 800 would be painful but..... Anything outside that range would be a big surprise.
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 51,720
    Has Williamson been the main source for Tim Shipman’s books? He seems remarkably upset about him getting fired.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,237
    > @CarlottaVance said:
    > https://twitter.com/notcapnamerica/status/1123663572343586816
    >
    >
    >
    > I can understand why he doesn't want to appear again.....

    Senator Harris will use that exchange in her Primary ads, and I think it will be effective.

    Changing gears for a second, Biden is clear number one, but if Harris can mobilise the African American vote in the same way Obama did, she stands a good chance.

    The one I can't see with a clear path to the nomination is Sanders: simply, other than Tulsi Gabbard, who else's delegates would be able to rely on? (He certainly won't get many superdelegate votes.)

    So unless he has a storming performance, and wins both Iowa and New Hampshire, then he's likely to trail the entire race with little chance of getting it back in a contested convention.
  • Peter_the_PunterPeter_the_Punter Posts: 14,355
    > @Stereotomy said:
    > https://twitter.com/tianran/status/1123688199136657408
    >
    >
    >
    > Ah, so he was known to have spent 11 minutes on the phone to the Telegraph’s office, on the same day that a meeting he attended got leaked to that same newspaper. But he had nothing to do with it. Right.
    >
    >
    > As unlikely as it is, there's a small part of me holding out hope that May fired the wrong guy, because it would be so, so funny.
    >
    > Maybe I make the wrong assumption, when I think that the PM would have had a whole bunch of spooks clearly visible for the past few days, looking into how the meeting got leaked to a newspaper. If the guy who was caught on the phone to the same newspaper was evasive about it, I don’t have much sympathy for him when he gets fired.
    >
    > Don’t newspapers and politicians not realise that everything electronic is monitored, and use old fashioned clandestine meetings and drops any more?
    >
    > You must be right, May wouldn't fired him unless she was completely, 100% certain, right? Surely. Yeah, she wouldn't have, I'm sure she... I mean, unless... but, no, no she wouldn't. Even if-- no, it's not worth thinking about. It was definitely him, end of story.
    >
    > ...Right?

    Just a thought, but did anyone check where Grayling was at the time?
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 62,772
    Rory handling Peston very well.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 123,156
    > @_Anazina_ said:
    > > @HYUFD said:
    >
    > > Peston predicts 405 to 800 Tory losses tomorrow based on academic research.
    >
    > >
    >
    >
    >
    > I'd make the same prediction, I would clearly make a great pundit.
    >
    >
    > I honestly had no idea there were elections on! Do they apply to London?

    That is because there are no local elections in London tomorrow, they were last year
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,163
    > @_Anazina_ said:
    > > @HYUFD said:
    >
    > > Peston predicts 405 to 800 Tory losses tomorrow based on academic research.
    >
    > >
    >
    >
    >
    > I'd make the same prediction, I would clearly make a great pundit.
    >
    >
    > I honestly had no idea there were elections on! Do they apply to London?

    No

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_United_Kingdom_local_elections

    Lots of rural areas, so lots of seats and Councils for the Tories to lose. I'm sure it will be bad for them, as although BP aren't standing much (if at all?) I would expect a lot of Tories to stay at home and they start with the largest number of seats by far and they've been in government for nearly a decade.

    Just a question of how bad it will get. The double whammy of getting hammered in the Euros soon will probably be tough - Corbyn for instance managed to manage expectations very well for his first locals, but with everything going on right now even a decent performance from the Tories, not losing all that many, will contribute to the impression they are in freefall.

    Which is not unreasonable frankly.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,617
    > @Harris_Tweed said:
    > This is so obvious I guess it’s already been suggested and probably dismissed, but is Stewart Jackson temptable into BP?
    >
    > The one whose Twitter handle is already BrexitStewart? Who lost his seat to Fifi in May’s ill-advised 2017 election? Who then lost his gig as Davis’s chief of staff when DD quit? Who’s posted plenty of anti-cabinet and even pro-Farage stuff recently? Who’s deffo straight-talking in the Farage mould, but his fame doesn’t stretch beyond Fletton Parkway to compete with him nationally?

    And yet, look who he lost to last time out......
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 54,629
    Cyclefree said:

    Isn’t Penny Mordaunt one of those Brexiteers who lied about Turkey’s accession during the referendum campaign? Why does everyone rate her?

    She can be very serious and dedicated to her department and its brief:
    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7eJUFfzRFg

    She can also be quite funny:
    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hvLcYUXBBuc

    And self-deprecating, willing to use her profile as MP for a good local cause:
    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jTMDuHxQHlo
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,163
    I'd forgotten how few councillors the Tories actually lost last year in the locals. Of course, that was across territory where they started out with fewer councillors to begin with, but still seems like a good result. Even a good result this year will look like a mullering by comparison.
  • GIN1138GIN1138 Posts: 22,293
    > @HYUFD said:
    > > @kle4 said:
    > > > @Floater said:
    > > > looking forward to the tories getting an absolute monstering tomorrow
    > >
    > > What would count as a monstering? Fairly big losses 9 years into government would not be astounding, though of course it would be very bad for them regardless, so expectations management wise, how big is unusually big a loss?
    >
    > In 1995 the Tories lost 2000 seats, unquestionably a big loss. In 1999 Labour lost 1,161 seats unquestionably a big loss.
    >
    > The Tories are unlikely to do that badly but could lose 800 seats, equivalent to the losses Labour suffered in 2003

    I'll go for 1000 lost seats for Con.
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,414
    > @Peter_the_Punter said:
    > > @Stereotomy said:
    > > https://twitter.com/tianran/status/1123688199136657408
    > >
    > >
    > >
    > > Ah, so he was known to have spent 11 minutes on the phone to the Telegraph’s office, on the same day that a meeting he attended got leaked to that same newspaper. But he had nothing to do with it. Right.
    > >
    > >
    > > As unlikely as it is, there's a small part of me holding out hope that May fired the wrong guy, because it would be so, so funny.
    > >
    > > Maybe I make the wrong assumption, when I think that the PM would have had a whole bunch of spooks clearly visible for the past few days, looking into how the meeting got leaked to a newspaper. If the guy who was caught on the phone to the same newspaper was evasive about it, I don’t have much sympathy for him when he gets fired.
    > >
    > > Don’t newspapers and politicians not realise that everything electronic is monitored, and use old fashioned clandestine meetings and drops any more?
    > >
    > > You must be right, May wouldn't fired him unless she was completely, 100% certain, right? Surely. Yeah, she wouldn't have, I'm sure she... I mean, unless... but, no, no she wouldn't. Even if-- no, it's not worth thinking about. It was definitely him, end of story.
    > >
    > > ...Right?
    >
    > Just a thought, but did anyone check where Grayling was at the time?

    Couldn't have been him. He'd have dialled 3 wrong numbers then dropped his phone in the loo.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 123,156
    > @GIN1138 said:
    > > @HYUFD said:
    > > > @kle4 said:
    > > > > @Floater said:
    > > > > looking forward to the tories getting an absolute monstering tomorrow
    > > >
    > > > What would count as a monstering? Fairly big losses 9 years into government would not be astounding, though of course it would be very bad for them regardless, so expectations management wise, how big is unusually big a loss?
    > >
    > > In 1995 the Tories lost 2000 seats, unquestionably a big loss. In 1999 Labour lost 1,161 seats unquestionably a big loss.
    > >
    > > The Tories are unlikely to do that badly but could lose 800 seats, equivalent to the losses Labour suffered in 2003
    >
    > I'll go for 1000 lost seats for Con.

    If the Brexit Party and UKIP were standing in 100% of the wards I would also put 1000 losses as possible. As it is they are only standing in 20% so I think the Tories will do a little better than their poll rating suggests and am going for 600 to 700 losses
This discussion has been closed.