Diane Abbott suspended as Labour MP.

[skyscraper101]

a reminder of the 2019 election result in Hackney North
View attachment 426292


everyone knows who Diane is and I think it is very likely she will win as an independent, even if the campaign will be a bit slow to get off the ground

Not that I don't agree with this, but Hackney has never not returned a Labour candidate. I think she could do it but nobody should be under the illusion that all those Labour votes would instantly translate into Independent votes for Abbott either.

 

[ska invita]

But she is still a liability on the national stage.

She doesnt have a national stage, she will be the back of the backbenches, if she doesnt get the boot

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Not that I don't agree with this, but Hackney has never not returned a Labour candidate. I think she could do it but nobody should be under the illusion that all those Labour votes would instantly translate into Independent votes for Abbott either.

They don't need to. She only needs a little over half. It would be a much reduced majority, but in comparable situations in the past (of which there are very few) such as Merthyr Tydfil 1970, up to 70% have switched.

 

[skyscraper101]

Is there a league table of MP’s popularity amongst the wider swing electorate?

Well, she was shadow home secretary when Labour lost their biggest election defeat since the 1930s. Not that I'd put that all on her, but I'm not going to discount it as irrelevant either.

 

[CH1]

They don't need to. She only needs a little over half. It would be a much reduced majority, but in comparable situations in the past (of which there are very few) such as Merthyr Tydfil 1970, up to 70% have switched.

Dick Taverne in Lincoln managed to get elected twice as crpto pro European Social Democrat. Firstly in a by-election he caused by resigning as an MP when Labour booted him out in 1973, and then again in the first of the two 1974 general elections.
Its all a bit odd really as we now think of Lincoln as a hotbed of Faragiste isolationism.

 

[Karl Masks]

But that would've given her time to openly organise standing as an independent (if she wanted to). Doing it like this means if she does stand as an independent, she's on the back foot.

And publicity about it will be less than it would've been if there wasn't a GE campaign going on.

(I mean I'm sure she's been organising behind the scenes if she does want to stand but 'openly' is important in terms of getting the message out/giving her side of the story etc.)

All of this follows from their poor handling of her letter. Their denail of a hierarcy of racism flies in the face of the Forde report as well. Starmer is a terrible politician

 

[Karl Masks]

Well, she was shadow home secretary when Labour lost their biggest election defeat since the 1930s. Not that I'd put that all on her, but I'm not going to discount it as irrelevant either.

And attacks on her had nothing to do with that, such as bad faith interviews about minutae conducted when she was not well?

 

[GarveyLives]

has there been a Labour nomination process for Hackney North?

As announced on 1 August 2022:

​

 

[planetgeli]

As announced on 1 August 2022:

​

Good luck with that.

She's not on the Labour list. There's a big gap between Guildford and Halesowen.

Labour selections: parliamentary candidates selected so far for the general election - LabourList

Our rolling list of the candidates who have so far been selected to stand for the Labour Party at the next general election.

labourlist.org

 

[skyscraper101]

And attacks on her had nothing to do with that, such as bad faith interviews about minutae conducted when she was not well?

Undoubtedly. But that's how it is here. That's the mainstream media. I'm not defending it, I'm just saying how it is.

 

[Fozzie Bear]

Boring detail

ska invita yes she became an MP in 1987, the first black woman elected to Parliament.

skyscraper101 Hackney North has had a previous dalliance with non-Labour MPs. The former borough of Stoke Newington was Conservative and Liberal until 1945.

 

[Fozzie Bear]

Also it is possible for Labour to impose candidates on constituencies which was previously seen as outrageous.

 

[The39thStep]

Well, she was shadow home secretary when Labour lost their biggest election defeat since the 1930s. Not that I'd put that all on her, but I'm not going to discount it as irrelevant either.

Rayner was the Shadow Secretary of State for Education, Emily Thornbury was Shadow Foreign Secretary, Stamer was the Shadow Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union when Labour lost their biggest election defeat since the 1930s.

 

[CH1]

Stamer was the Shadow Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union

And he is totally opaque about what he is going to do about Brexit now. C*nt.

 

[ska invita]

Also it is possible for Labour to impose candidates on constituencies which was previously seen as outrageous.

View attachment 426301

2020.... Wild days

 

[ska invita]

L o l if true

 

[skyscraper101]

Rayner was the Shadow Secretary of State for Education, Emily Thornbury was Shadow Foreign Secretary, Stamer was the Shadow Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union when Labour lost their biggest election defeat since the 1930s.

Exactly. They're all now batting for Starmer's Labour who are 20 points ahead. And Abbot ain't. Do you think is she was considered to be a massive asset to Labour in this election she'd still be out in the cold? I don't think so.

 

[two sheds]

Also it is possible for Labour to impose candidates on constituencies which was previously seen as outrageous.

View attachment 426301

That is grossly unfair though, he was standing for election as Labour Party Leader at the time we can hardly expect him to have actually believed it.

 

[Colin Hunt]

Exactly. They're all now batting for Starmer's Labour who are 20 points ahead. And Abbot ain't. Do you think is she was considered to be a massive asset to Labour in this election she'd still be out in the cold? I don't think so.

There has of course been no change in the wider situation electorally, or in the political preferences of the wider swing state electorate, from 2019 to 2024. So that is a completely fair statement to make.

 

[The39thStep]

Exactly. They're all now batting for Starmer's Labour who are 20 points ahead. And Abbot ain't. Do you think is she was considered to be a massive asset to Labour in this election she'd still be out in the cold? I don't think so.

Personally, I think it has more to do with the colour of her skin, the fact that she talks about race and that she is left/ soft left Labour. Says a lot about the sort of 'wider swing voters' that you think Labour should be focusing on.

 

[skyscraper101]

There has of course been no change in the wider situation electorally, or in the political preferences of the wider swing state electorate, from 2019 to 2024. So that is a completely fair statement to make.

But would you disagree, if she was considered to be useful to Labour's advantage right now she'd have been reinstated already?

 

[The39thStep]

L o l if true

I glance at a lot of that tweeter's posts and tbh I'm not confident that he's got insiders rushing to contact him.

 

[ska invita]

I glance at a lot of that tweeter's posts and tbh I'm not confident that he's got insiders rushing to contact him.

Hah yeah fair.... Had a whiff about it

 

[skyscraper101]

Personally, I think it has more to do with the colour of her skin, the fact that she talks about race and that she is left/ soft left Labour. Says a lot about the sort of 'wider swing voters' that you think Labour should be focusing on.

I don't see any evidence of this, and I reject the implication that I think Labour should be focusing on people who are bothered by skin colour.

 

[The39thStep]

I don't see any evidence of this, and I reject the implication that I think Labour should be focusing on people who are bothered by skin colour.

Sorry, I re-read my last sentence and with hindsight, my comment was badly worded. However, I do stand by every part of my first sentence and I do feel that if she's disliked by these alleged swing voters then it is for those reasons .

 

[kabbes]

I don't see any evidence of this, and I reject the implication that I think Labour should be focusing on people who are bothered by skin colour.

The point is that skin colour is not just a surface label, but an indicator of the power relations endured by that individual. Thinking that you can resolve racism without paying attention to the social consequences of skin colour is what leads to tick-box DEI targets. It’s why western corporations have spent tens of not hundreds of billions of dollars on DEI over decades and achieved next to nothing for their spend.

Abbott has a valuable perspective on the social, institutional embeddedness of anti-black racism and her politics are informed by that perspective. And it’s exactly those politics that have made her persona non grata in Starmer’s Labour Party. Her skin colour is not just relevant, it’s crucial.

 

[tim]

Well, she was shadow home secretary when Labour lost their biggest election defeat since the 1930s. Not that I'd put that all on her, but I'm not going to discount it as irrelevant either.

It is totally irrelevant. People didn't vote for Johnson because of Diane Abbott.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Exactly. They're all now batting for Starmer's Labour who are 20 points ahead. And Abbot ain't. Do you think is she was considered to be a massive asset to Labour in this election she'd still be out in the cold? I don't think so.

I'm sure they don't feel like they need (or want) her. That's what has led them to this highly misjudged position. I hope she is not readmitted, stands as an Indie and wins. Abbott plus Corbyn as a NE London 'real labour' rump.

Sooner or later they would probably end up letting Abbott back in, as they did with Livingstone, particularly if she takes the bulk of the local party organisation with her.

 

[two sheds]

I was with you till the last sentence - starmer seems to view getting rid of lefties as disinfecting the place, not sure whether he'd want them if again once they'd betrayed him.

 

[skyscraper101]

Sorry, I re-read my last sentence and with hindsight, my comment was badly worded. However, I do stand by every part of my first sentence and I do feel that if she's disliked by these alleged swing voters then it is for those reasons .

I get it. I know that more than any other MP, she's targeted by the absolute worst of the worst of this country regarding her race. I'm not here to discount that, but I just don't buy that that's the reason why she's been been left out of the shadow cabinet or treated differently to say Rupa Huq or Neil Coyle.

I just think she's regarded more as a liability in Starmer's vision for Labour in securing power. Not because she's black, but because of her tendancy to appear to be clueless and say dumb shit. The fact that there's no love lost between them is obviously also a factor, but I don't see any evidence to suggest that it's the 'racist swing vote' of Britain, that's the issue here.