Ed Howker

“The only good Tory is a dead Tory”

Earlier this week, Coffee House pointed out that the Labour Party National Executive Committee’s decision to exclude local candidates from the Stoke Central candidate short-list might cause trouble. And, lo, trouble it has caused. Similarly unimpressed by the state of Labour democracy, Stoke Labour member Gary Elsby has decided to stand independently and passionately annouced his candidature on the BBC World at One programme today. He has already garnered the support of my colleague Toby Young.

Elsby later stated:

“By taking this decision I feel that I am doing something positive for all the unpaid Labour Party volunteers who
could be the next victims of those paid enforcers of the NEC hit squad. The actions of the regional officers and in particular Regional Director Ian Reilly are to blame for the mess that this has all caused. The Labour Party heavy artillery will now be unleashed upon me. “The people of Stoke-on-Trent Central will know that I am ‘of’ the people and ‘for’ the people rather than being a Lord Mandelson parachuted puppet.”

The “puppet” in question is, of course, Tristram Hunt, who is now the official Stoke Central Labour candidate, and though Elsby’s ire is not aimed at him so much as the Labour leadership, it is Hunt who will pay the price if Elsby picks up any momentum whatsoever.

Of course, to do that Elsby will have to craft his pitch to the voters very carefully and, alas, there may be evidence that he can sometimes get a bit carried away. There is, you see, a writer who for the last four or five years has been posting messages on political blogs under the name of Gary Elsby Labour and Gary Elsby Stoke-on-Trent. Of course, if this is the same man, these blogs give us unparalleled access into the mind of the candidate.

Already a subscriber? Log in

Keep reading with a free trial

Subscribe and get your first month of online and app access for free. After that it’s just £1 a week.

There’s no commitment, you can cancel any time.

Or

Unlock more articles

REGISTER

Comments

Don't miss out

Join the conversation with other Spectator readers. Subscribe to leave a comment.

Already a subscriber? Log in