[davidjay]

It's never a show without Punch.

Ex-Labour MP George Galloway joins Batley and Spen byelection race


https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... ction-race

[Dalem Lake]

It's never a show without Punch.

Ex-Labour MP George Galloway joins Batley and Spen byelection race


https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... ction-race

Whatever happened to the Respect Party? Are they still going?

[Youngian]

George is going to clean up among the left wing Scottish Unionist Brexiter vote in Batley.

[Boiler]

Whatever happened to the Respect Party? Are they still going?

I can't find them on the list of currently registered parties on the Electoral Commission website, unless I'm looking in the wrong place.

Edit: Wiki said it ceased in 2016.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Paul Halloran, an independent candidate who came third with 6,432 votes in 2019, has not yet confirmed whether he is standing. Last week he posted a photo of himself with actor Laurence Fox, who received 1.88% of the vote in London’s mayoral race.

We still don't know if this goon will be running. It's better for Labour if he does.

[Andy McDandy]

That charmer Jayda Fransen has thrown her hat into the ring too. Here's hoping she can beat her PB of 46 (not really).

[Samanfur]

It depends on how you define beating her PB.

If it means her getting 36 votes instead of 46 (her vote having already dropped from the 56 she got when she first stood in Rochester), I'm okay with this.

[Andy McDandy]

Ideally single figures. Less than the number she needed for nominations would be beautiful.

[zuriblue]

Ideally single figures. Less than the number she needed for nominations would be beautiful.

When I lived in Lewisham that happened. The local BNP fuckwit got 8 votes in a council election.

[Watchman]

As the last but one MP was murdered but some who uttered the words “Britain first”, the fact that it is even allowed to appear on the ballot sheet is an insult, she deserves the square root of fuck all, and anyone who votes for her is despicable

[davidjay]

As the last but one MP was murdered but some who uttered the words “Britain first”, the fact that it is even allowed to appear on the ballot sheet is an insult, she deserves the square root of fuck all, and anyone who votes for her is despicable

She's not Britain First any more, she's an independent. Also rumoured to be standing is Anna Maria Waters of For Britain, lately the rock from underneath which Stephen Yaxley-Lennon crawls from time to time.

[Tubby Isaacs]

They'll get a few votes, given the Batley Grammar School stand off.

[Samanfur]

She's not Britain First any more, she's an independent. Also rumoured to be standing is Anna Maria Waters of For Britain, lately the rock from underneath which Stephen Yaxley-Lennon crawls out from time to time..

Also Morrisey's hobby horse of choice.

[Andy McDandy]

All those fash and only one vote...

[Watchman]

As the last but one MP was murdered but some who uttered the words “Britain first”, the fact that it is even allowed to appear on the ballot sheet is an insult, she deserves the square root of fuck all, and anyone who votes for her is despicable

She's not Britain First any more, she's an independent. Also rumoured to be standing is Anna Maria Waters of For Britain, lately the rock from underneath which Stephen Yaxley-Lennon crawls from time to time.

Actually a bit of vomit just came up!

[The Weeping Angel]

Interview with Kim Leadbeater

https://www.theguardian.com/global/2021 ... o-be-doing

But she has already experienced the inevitable hostility. There have been suggestions that she is piggybacking on her sister’s murder to build a career, that she is going into politics without having done the necessary background work, and that this is a form of emotional mugging from a Labour party terrified of losing the seat. When I mention this, I see the scrapper in Leadbeater. “Look, I’ve already been subjected to some pretty horrible comments in the media and on social media. I went into it knowing that would happen. People are going to be negative and cruel. My story is my story. I can’t change that. And, let’s be fair, that is what has brought me here, but if I’d have wanted to jump on Jo’s coat-tails or however people want to put it, I had that opportunity five years ago. People did ask me to stand at that point, and there was absolutely no way that would have been the right thing to do – not least because of my lack of experience. But I’ve had five years now on an extremely steep learning curve about politics, community, the issues that matter to people, so this does feel like the right time. Ultimately, I am who I am and either that will be good enough for people, or it won’t.”

Leadbeater comes in peace, but she also sounds like an avenging angel, determined to do her sister justice, achieve everything Cox was likely to – and possibly more. It’s now clear how similar she is to Cox, and how different. While her sister took a much more traditional route into Labour politics (Oxbridge, international aid work, the European parliament), Leadbeater is a proud outsider, and intends to remain that way. She could be a rare asset for the Labour party – a throwback to the old-fashioned working-class MP rooted in the community, and at the same time thoroughly modern.

[Boiler]

The full candidate list is here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-57391176

No less than sixteen candidates.

[Andy McDandy]

10 fringe right/populist cranks, and the Tory. Hopefully this will lead to some serious splitting of the arsehole vote.

[Boiler]

I reckon the left vote will be equally split, if not more so.

We'll find out in 22 days, won't we? My gut feeling is this will become a new Tory seat.

[Crabcakes]

I see Galloway the attention vampire has latched onto this one. What a fucking ghoul.