tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13935904.post637547523252520299..comments2024-02-04T09:15:50.839+00:00Comments on Mars Hill: Last Nights ResultPaul Burginhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06718135185726733792noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13935904.post-62265011376272671332008-05-23T23:22:00.000+01:002008-05-23T23:22:00.000+01:00There's a delicious irony in the fact that the vot...There's a delicious irony in the fact that the voters yesterday did exactly what Labour asked of them - voted for the thoroughly decent local candidate, and sent the toff packing back to her mansion in Wales and her entry in <I>Burke's Peerage</I>.<BR/><BR/>Tamsin Dunwoody was a poor candidate from the off (wasn't the notion that a parliamentary seat should be a family sinecure once associated with toffs anyway?); her willingness to go with the squalid campaign tactics makes it unlikely she'll get another opportunity to stand as a candidate, at least not if selection committees have any sense. Personally, I think that it's a good thing Labour lost given their conduct around this by-election.<BR/><BR/>Labour have been in power for over ten years now, and should have been happy to stand on the basis of their record and, secondary to that, their proposed policies. Unfortunately right now they're the same rudderless ship that the Tories were after they'd been in power too long, and there's much in their record that they're right to be less than proud of.<BR/><BR/>There's no getting away from it. Gordon is going to lose the next election by a very considerable margin regardless now; he's a dead man walking. Labour need a proper leadership election asap, let's hope they find someone who can bring some respect back to the party, limit the scale of the inevitable loss and then develop real policies so that there's at least some prospect of a return to power in the next election bar one.<BR/><BR/>Unfortunately Labour's conduct in Crewe has done considerable long-term damage to it's reputation; it has certainly not left any sense that it is a party fit to govern.Stephenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15464069586293077271noreply@blogger.com