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.”
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