John McDonnell conceeded

[detective-boy]

John is now accusing Brown supporters of a stitch up, I believe him

Nah, it's the curse of D-B ....

... I met him in the Green Room at the BBC the other day and wished him luck!! Always the kiss of death!

 

[TAE]

all three of them?

Note that my post said 'grass roots' not 'leftwing'.

This isn't a snidey comment, but i really wonder what any remaining leftists in the Labour Party actually think the world is like. Its been 10 years now of procapitlist, free market, Iraqi killing stuff - what do they think the party is about? Why carry on - at the very least - financially supporting a party that has continued and deepended the Thatcher process - and murdered hundredsof thousands.

If you've got some radical instincts, some sense that the world might be different, how could you really think Labour is even potentially on that side?

Well exactly. How much support to John have in the party as a whole?

 

[TAE]

There will be no split.

Half the members have already left the party (comparing the number of members in 1997 with 2004) - where did they go?

 

[Matt S]

Into apathy.

Probably only 1% of the 200,000 that left have found their way into parties to the left of Labour (unless you count the Lib Dems, who've probably gained another 1-2%).

Matt

 

[butchersapron]

That's not a split though. Yes, their membership has plummeted since 97 - i think most of them have simply dropped out of any political acivtity though. They've certainly not flocked to other groups or established new ones. Respect would come closest to that (aside from Arthur's embarassing SLP)and they've not got anywhere near 200 000 members.

 

[Matt S]

The Greens have also gained from ex Labour members, but we are talking hundreds of people, not thousands.

Matt

 

[TAE]

Into apathy.

I suspect you are correct.

 

[treelover]

Greens touting for business on JM's blog, not the done thing imo
http://www.john4leader.org.uk/

Dear anon,

thanks for joining the Greens!

people have different ways of fighting the fight for justice and ecology, I appreciate that not all will want to get involved with the Green Party but there is certainly still room for radical views in our party and the more who join like anon, the longer this will remain the case.

best wishes,

Derek Wall

 

[treelover]

as i said the PLP are a disgrace, even the Tories are now more democratic:

As a conservative supporter and member I accept that we have a Labour Government until the people of Britain vote and possibly change their mind. I also accept that mid term leader’s change and as someone who believes in democracy I think it is a disgrace that the Labour MP's have not nominated John McDonnell in order that a public contest to decide the next British Prime Minister can take place.

A contest would have created some semblance of democracy and the British public would have had some sort of idea what the future would be with the debates that would have taken place. It is a sad day for democracy when one of the main parties in appoints rather than elects their leader.

Just as a side issue how much consultation has the 308 MP’s had with their constituency membership on who to nominate. When John Major was elected MP’s consulted their constituency party. The Tory MP’s have withdrew a real choice from the membership when they gave us a contest between Clarke and Duncan-Smith and look what happened to us – but it was at least our choice.

Good luck with democracy!

 

[poster342002]

I can't quite remember now (it was all so long ago), but didn't even the Thatcher-Major handover involve a contested ballot of some kind?

 

[Geoff Collier]

I can't quite remember now (it was all so long ago), but didn't even the Thatcher-Major handover involve a contested ballot of some kind?

Only a ballot of Tory MPs I believe. The wider membership didn't get a say till a later election

 

[Geoff kerr-morg]

I've just recieved this from the Labour Party I sent an email to them a while ago saying what a bunch of murderous cutthroats they are and they should be put before a war crimes tribunal, they've been sending me these ever since [ punishment ]. Still bombard them with questions. By the way they thanked me for my response but did not answer it.















LEADERSHIP & DEPUTY LEADERSHIP ELECTIONS 2007



Declaration of Validly Nominated Candidates



The rules of the Labour Party require a candidate in the elections for Leader and Deputy Leader to receive nominations from a minimum of 12.5% of the Commons Members of the PLP, or 45 MPs, in order to be validly nominated.



The deadline for MPs to cast their nominations was Thursday 17 May at 12,30pm. The Procedures Committee met at the close of these nominations to declare the following candidates as being validly nominated:



For the leadership:



Gordon Brown 313 MP nominations



For the deputy leadership:



Hilary Benn 47 MP nominations

Hazel Blears 49 MP nominations

Jon Cruddas 49 MP nominations

Peter Hain 51 MP nominations

Harriet Harman 65 MP nominations

Alan Johnson 73 MP nominations



For further details, please visit the candidate pages of the Labour Party website at labour.org.uk/leadership.



Have your say



To ensure as many people as possible are able to take part in these elections, we are inviting you to put a question directly to the candidates. You can post a question to them individually on the candidate pages of our website or ask a question you want them to answer at one of our husting events. To post your question visit our website, labour.org.uk/leadership, or text 'HUST' followed by the question to 60022 (standard network rates apply).



Win two VIP tickets to the Leadership Conference



Help boost party funds by joining in, and getting others to join in, our Leadership Conference prize draw. At just £5 a ticket, you can enter the prize draw to win two all expenses paid VIP tickets to the Leadership Conference. These tickets include overnight accommodation and train travel. Enter online via the campaign shop button at labour.org.uk/leadership, or call 08705 900 200.



Yours sincerely







Peter Watt
General Secretary.



PS We have limited edition leadership election merchandise for sale for a few weeks only. Buy online at labour.org.uk/leadership


To unsubscribe, please click here and tick the unsubscribe box

 

[chilango]

PS We have limited edition leadership election merchandise for sale for a few weeks only. Buy online at labour.org.uk/leadership

 

[Matt S]

treelover,

We weren't 'touting for business'. Someone said that they were going to join us having left the Labour Party, so our Principal Speaker said thanks....not the worst crime in the world, I would argue...

Matt