Labour’s Islington North chairman who ‘hid in bush when spotted campaigning for Corbyn’ quits
The Labour chairman of Jeremy Corbyn’s constituency has been forced to resign after allegedly hiding behind a hedge when caught campaigning for the former party leader.
Alison McGarry is understood to have quit on Wednesday after being spotted urging residents to back Mr Corbyn, who is running against Labour as an independent in Islington North.
She is said to have hidden behind a hedge when she was caught, and later resigned rather than be sacked by the party. Labour’s rulebook states that any members who campaign for rival candidates will be expelled.
It's not very edifying this general election lark. We've always known there are some daft characters lurking in the undergrowth, but it doesn't get any dafter than campaigning for Corbyn. No wonder she hid in a hedge.
7 comments:
We got a leaflet today from our local independent. It made me glum.
It was a mixture of dim, man-in-the-pub economics (why do people moan about "middlemen"?) and vague and partly contradictory stuff - "yes to job security & perks for key workers" but also yes to "incentives for industry and innovation".
Basically it's a ragbag of grumbles with the unspoken assumption that government be given more power to interfere in our lives. Not a single thing mentioned could be interpreted as in any way liberal (in the non-American meaning).
There was a day when our electorate got a choice between the parties of Dizzy and Mr Gladstone. Oh well.
dearieme - it's probably an effect of weary distrust, but the major parties seem to have given up on anything but more government and more centralised control, offering only vague and implausible benefits to the general population. Allowing people to live their own lives in their own way has vanished as a liberal ideal.
Perhaps the real reason, less embarrassing, she was in the bushes was that nature called.
Anon - good point, maybe she was caught short by the excitement of secretly canvassing for Jeremy.
I went to our constituency hustings yesterday evening. Dear God, it was depressing. There wasn't one of them I would trust to look after our cat.
1) Tory mum, working in financial services. Probably OK but depressed and not even trying due to the polls and news.
2) Green Party chubby soft lad with blue hair who talked about Gaza and said we should employ asylum-seekers to staff social care.
3) Sitting Labour MP. Repeated party line in an adequate manner. Should have been deputy head at the local primary school, or running a small sales team.
4) Lib Dem excited gabbler who promised to spend a lot more of our taxes
5) A young bloke standing as a "Portsmouth Independent". No idea why he would bother, but articulate about local issues.
6) Reform old geezer who was clearly out of his depth and tongue-tied.
None of it really matters, of course. This is a tired local ceremony which has its roots in some useful activity in the past called representative democracy. A bit like wassailing or cheese-rolling.
But a good Hedge Fun for the rest of us.
Sam - yes, it's depressing. The idea of becoming and MP clearly attracts far too many duds, crooks and loons and for some reason capable people aren't interested. It does suggest the conclusion that what goes on in the HoC no longer matters and only attracts people who haven't worked that out.
Tammly - and maybe that's all we get out of politics.
Post a Comment