Another Sheffield Lib Dem moves to Labour

[RosyRat 10]

Redrobbo (name says it all) Clive Skelton has betrayed the people of his ward who voted for his Libdem policies. If he is as "honourable and principled" as you say he will stand for re-election under his new red beliefs. But there again he will be welcomed by Labour because betraying the electorate is something Labour are experts at. The Libdems are not "propping up" the Tory government, they are obstructing everything that the government was elected to do. The Libdems will not walk away from the coalition because they like the power and they know they will never get into office because they are finnished.

 

Who says that Clive Skelton will stand for re-election ? Nobody knows that and nobody can know it. The only people who will decide that are the local Labour Party members who will vote to select him. He won't even know whether he will be interviewed for Beauchief and Greenhill. I do wish people who spout this nonsense would rely on facts not their own inner rage. Once again we'll explain how candidates are selected to stand for election. Not that you'll take any notice of course, as it suits you not to. But for those who are able to understand process :

 

1. Individual party members announce their interest in standing for election to the City Council.

 

2. They fill in an application form, which is sent to the Sheffield District Labour Party, who assess them and invite those who are suitable to interview to the Municipal Panel. This is made up of Sheffield Labour Party members, a Sheffield Labour councillor and an observer from Yorkshire Regional Labour Party.

 

3. Successful candidates then set out their beliefs and their CV in a document. These are sent round to all ward Labour parties and the members of those wards call a shortlisting meeting. Candidates shortlisted are then invited to a selection meeting. The only people allowed at those meetings are the candidates, people who have been Labour Party members for over a year and who live in the ward and an observer from the Sheffield District Labour Party who ensures that everything is done properly.

 

4. Candidates are interviewed one by one and all asked the same questions, which the ward members have agreed. The successful candidate is told there and then whether he or she will be standing for election.

 

So, if you've bothered to read all read you'll see that Clive Skelton doesn't know whether :

 

a) He'll be selected for the Municipal Panel.

 

b) He'll be shortlisted for any of the wards in the city

 

c) If or where he'll be interviewed.

 

Candidates don't have a choice of where they're interviewed, only sitting councillors do. If he's called by Mosborough, say he'll have to attend interview there and if he's selected, that's where he'll stand.

 

Now let's wait and see how long it takes for yet another person to say that candidates are parachuted in from Labour Party HQ...

[alchresearch 215]

Very well said. I live in a Lib Dem area and it's "business as usual" for councillors.

 

Its expected (and has happened) to see MPs jump ship to save their skins, but councillors are a very different type or person.

[cytine 40]

RosyRat. I know how it works I don't need your arrogant condescending explanation. Some poor hard working, unknown councillor will be thrown out of their nice safe seat to make sure that he gets in. As happened when Tony Benns constituents got rid of him, he was given nice safe Labour Chesterfied. As I said earlier if he was "Honourable" he would resign and stand for election NOW. He is deceiving his ward and not representing their wishes. Maybe you should take the red glasses off and see what is really going on.

[RosyRat 10]

RosyRat. I know how it works I don't need your arrogant condescending explanation. Some poor hard working, unknown councillor will be thrown out of their nice safe seat to make sure that he gets in. As happened when Tony Benns constituents got rid of him, he was given nice safe Labour Chesterfied. As I said earlier if he was "Honourable" he would resign and stand for election NOW. He is deceiving his ward and not representing their wishes. Maybe you should take the red glasses off and see what is really going on.

Maybe you should learn the difference between an MP and a councillor. No councillor will be thrown out of any seat. Who would throw them out? You obviously still don't understand who makes the decision, even though you say you do.

 

The ordinary Labour Party members in the wards make the decision as to who will stand in their ward for election. Which ward will throw out their sitting councillor to take an unknown? Frank Taylor, the Lib Dem in Gleadless Valley who crossed to Labour wasn't selected again by Gleadless Valley Labour Party. He ended up being chosen by the last ward to select : Dore and Totley. We don't know whether Walkley will select Ben Curran - I hope very much they do, as he is an excellent Labour councillor.

 

But you don't have a crystal ball and you don't seem to want to understand that no-one, anywhere in the Labour Party, can instruct 70+ Labour Party members in a ward to select a particular person. If you find that condescending, it's because I'm tired of repeating info that people deliberately don't want to understand or accept.

[cytine 40]

Rosyrat. I am very welll aware of the difference between a councillor and an MP, I was using the Benn situation as an example but obviously you didn't understand that.

Do you really believe the rubbish you are spouting? The ordinary Labour Party

ward members will do as they are told by the officials at party HQ. I've lived too long to have any faith in politicians.

[LeMaquis 10]

Some poor hard working, unknown councillor will be thrown out of their nice safe seat to make sure that he gets in. As happened when Tony Benns constituents got rid of him, he was given nice safe Labour Chesterfied.

 

If a councillor is hard-working it's unlikely they'll be unknown. They'll be well-known for their hard work, you'd imagine.

 

Benn's old seat in Bristol disappeared due to boundary changes and he ended up in a new seat that was marginal, losing to the Tories in 1983. Some months later Eric Varley, then MP for Chesterfield, resigned his seat to become chairman of Coalite. He wasn't thrown out. Benn was then selected to fight the by-election for Labour and won.

[max 13]

Rosyrat. I am very welll aware of the difference between a councillor and an MP, I was using the Benn situation as an example but obviously you didn't understand that.

Do you really believe the rubbish you are spouting? The ordinary Labour Party

ward members will do as they are told by the officials at party HQ. I've lived too long to have any faith in politicians.

 

That "rubbish" happens to be laid down in the Labour Party rule book and, yes, it is how we operate. The ward members choose from a list of candidates who they call for interview and a secret ballot is held to determine who is selected to fight the seat.

 

Oh well. I'm sure the loyal labour candidate who fought the seat last time around won't feel in the slightest bit agrieved at having someone else take over his pitch for the next election.

 

Ah, that would be Roy Munn who, err, won the seat for Labour this year.

[jgharston 11]

Who says that Clive Skelton will stand for re-election? (snip Labour selection procedure)

And exactly similar procedure was used when Dot Walton left Labour to jon the LibDems. There was no guarrantee she would automatically be selected for Morborough, she had to go through the approval and selection procedure just like anybody else. From informal chats exactly similar procedures are used by the Greens and Conservatives. Nobody can defect to another party and expect to be automatically selected by them for their sitting seat.

 

Even sitting councillors can't expect to be automatically reselected.

[HeadingNorth 11]

Which bit of the LibDem manifesto says they would strike a grand bargain with the Tories in the event of a hung parliament?

 

They promised to talk to both parties and secure a deal with whichever of them was willing to form a reasonabe coalition, including a large chunk of Lib-Dem policies.

 

That's exactly what they did. Although talks with Labour didn't last very long, because Labour chose not to try to form a coalition.

[natjack 10]

...Nobody can defect to another party and expect to be automatically selected by them for their sitting seat. Even sitting councillors can't expect to be automatically reselected.

I think you and RosyRat are reading it wrong. Think the implication was that if you stand for the then popular party and get elected under their banner, and then turn your coat to the newly popular party in the hope of keeping your place, you should be forced to resign and stand again. And probably won't be selected by your new lot as they unlikely to trust you to stick with them.

 

I don't vote for the representative of one party only to get the one I didn't want halfway through. And before anyone starts, a coalition is a totally different animal

[Doom 10]

They didn't have to side with anybody really.

 

They could have:

1. Let Tories form a minority government and to ensure government stability agree to vote with the Tories on all fiscal matters and confidence votes.

 

A nice idea in theory, but I very much doubt it would have worked in practice.

 

Most of the unpopular decisions that have been made are fiscal, therefore the LibDems would have had to back the Tories and would find themselves in the same unpopular position they currently are.

 

The most obvious one being tuition fees, which was a fiscal decision.

 

2. Gone for coalition-light. They didn't have to bind themselves together for 5 years. When it got messy - like it is now - it would have been easier to back away.

 

It was messy right from the off because of the massive debt left by the previous Government, that's why they're having to make all these unpopular decisions.

 

3. Gone for the full coalition we have now. Which is proving utterly disasterous for the country.

 

I guess that depends on your definition of disastrous. I don't particularly like the cuts being made and it's hurting me financially, but I accept they're a necessity to try and get us back straight after the over spending by the last Government.

 

To my mind disastrous would be what's happening in Greece, Spain, Italy and Ireland.....Countries that spent far too much and because they didn't tackle their massive budget defecits early enough are now saddled with huge interest payments....That's dead money.

 

Regards

 

Doom

[Sheffteach 10]

He's quoted as saying:

 

"I am disappointed with the leadership and I think some people are more interested in furthering their own political ambitions."

 

Can you explain to me what defecting from the Lib Dem opposition to the Labour Party in power is if not furthering your own political ambition?

 

If you're fed up with the Lib Dems you should have resigned honorably and stood in a by-election! What a hypocrite!