An incredibly 4am photo shoot idea from the LibDems, which they remarkably decided to go ahead with. If you’re going to smash through a wall Ed, learn from the master…
One of the most important rules for politicos – make sure you keep your voice down if you don’t know who’s listening in – went out the window for one group of LibDem activists working hard ahead of the Chesham & Amersham by-election. A recording passed to Guido shows the party apparatchiks getting worried about the Green party, who are even beating them in some national polls these days:
LibDem 1: “What are we going to do about the Greens?… the Greens are getting dangerous… What do you think we should do about the Greens ‘cos we need to sort them out otherwise they’re a danger to us”
Clearly this neurotic LibDem should have checked his company, given a fellow activist sheepishly pointed out “I stood for the Greens in local elections in 2015”. Brave admission…
So who is this notorious Green Party by-election candidate? Her name is Carolyne Culver, and she may be the most stereotypical Green candidate to ever face the electorate – spending her downtime literally hugging trees:
Grounding myself with a wonderful sturdy #Beech #Tree #BoisWoods
— CarolyneCulver (@CarolyneCulver) June 7, 2021
Small oasis of tranquility in the cut & thrust of the #CheshamandAmersham #ByElection
Pro #railways Pro #Publictransport#AntiHS2 #plantbased #Vegan but it's not a competition. Just doing our best.@AnothervoiceWB pic.twitter.com/daHMyDHU7e
According to Carolyne’s campaign manager, the word on the doorstep is the LibDems made a major error at the start of the campaign by ignoring the HS2 question. Four of the last eight polls have had the Greens ahead of the LibDems; one more by-election flop and the LibDems could be displaced as the third party…
Sir Keir is once again performing preemptive damage control for an election he senses Labour may lose. He did it for the Hartlepool by-election, and now he’s doing it again for Batley & Spen. Call him Captain Hindsight all you like; here, he’s practically clairvoyant…
Despite meeting Labour candidate Kim Leadbeater in the constituency last week, bumping elbows and smiling for the cameras, Starmer immediately declared the “Batley and Spen by-election is not about [him]“, and is instead all about local issues. A convenient excuse if things go wrong. Guido wonders whether he’ll take “full responsibility” again if Labour lose…
It’s also not true: Batley & Spen may well be all about him. New polling in The Times shows that Starmer’s personal support amongst British Muslims has plummeted well below the party’s overall average, with insiders fearing that Starmer’s unpopularity will cost Labour the seat. Batley & Spen has a large Muslim population, and with George Galloway determined to kneecap Starmer over Israel-Palestine, it looks like local issues will take a backseat for many when ballots are cast. Leadbeater’s new campaign leaflet outlines her position on Palestine/Kashmir, and Starmer basically made a canvassing pitch on the same topic last week in Parliament, so it’s not like they don’t know it…
Labour’s Batley and Spen By-Election Candidate, Kim Leadbeater, has quite impressively managed to break campaigning rules before the election has even begun. Campaigning rules state that election posters cannot be erected until 4pm today, however Guido has received pictures of Labour posters already plastered round the Batley and Spen constituency. Labour never like to play fair…
In addition to this, the overly-enthusiastic Labour team have reportedly fixed campaigning posters to private lampposts on private property, something they did not have permission to do. No surprise that socialists have no respect for private property, though this blatant disregard for homeowner’s rights may backfire on Kim Leadbeater by upsetting potential voters.
Last week Guido reported that neither Paul Halloran nor Laurence Fox’s Reclaim Party would stand in this hotly contested seat. A statement from Richard Tice explained that the Reform Party will also be standing aside because they “do not want to split the vote and reduce chances of Labour being ousted.” With Galloway splitting the left’s vote, and right-of-centre voters uniting behind Ryan Stephenson, this may be another Red Wall seat to fall, bookies are making the Tory the hot favourite…
Independent candidate Paul Halloran, who stood in Batley & Spen in 2019 and received 12.2% of the vote, has announced he will not be standing in the forthcoming by-election. A major boost to the Tories’ chances.
The statement has just been put out by Laurence Fox’s Reclaim party, with whom Halloran had been in discussion for some time. Reclaim says neither they, nor Halloran, will stand in the by-election, however Halloran does intend to stand as Reclaim’s candidate in the constituency come the next election.
“Paul and I have decided that we will not stand in the by election.
It has been made clear to both of us that many people in Batley and Spen are fed up with the Labour Party.
The Labour Party have lost their way. We cannot in good conscience stand and risk splitting the vote and condemning Batley and Spen to any more years of Labour control.
The Labour Party is one of the most divisive and intolerant political parties in the UK.”
The statement is far from an endorsement of the Tories’ candidate, however, accusing Ryan Stephenson of only caring about his party, and being someone “who couldn’t find Batley & Spen on a map four weeks ago”. With Galloway taking votes from the left, and the right narrowing down to one main contender, this by-election just became a major headache for Sir Keir…
UPDATE 06/06: Reform Party also standing aside so as not to split the right-wing vote. Richard Tice’s statement:
“We do not want to split the vote and reduce chances of Labour being ousted. While do not support this government, particularly with its approach to lockdown’s, the Northern Ireland Protocol and its new globalist tax agenda, a Tory win would lead to an early election, possibly next year and hopefully the final nail in Labour’s coffin.”
