A senior Labour honcho disappeared from the parliamentary register of interests last month. All while plotting to take the coveted General Secretary role…
The General Secretary of the Co-operative Party and Andy Burnham’s pick for Labour General Secretary, Joe Fortune, is technically working as a parliamentary staffer for Justice Secretary Alex Norris. You get access to parliament with a pass and so on…
Fortune has appeared on the parliamentary Register of Interests of Members’ Staff since 2019/20 under Norris. He appeared in June’s register but failed to turn up in July’s – the latest one. Fortune is tipped to cross over to become Labour General Secretary, a powerful party position. The Times reports that the other two contenders, Claire Reynolds and John Lehal, could be obliged to drop out to make way for him…
The system for registering staff changed over the summer – MPs were given the better part of a month from 29 June to upload basic details to a ‘Register of Interests of Members’ Staff Hub.’ Authorities are also removing the names of staff entirely from public view, the only effect of which will be to boost the chances of lobbyists and dodgy staff…
Labour sources blame that change in the system for registering staff and say Fortune has been re-registered on the system. Doesn’t bode well for the party in competence terms…
Shadow Justice Secretary Nick Timothy tells Guido:
“Labour have now admitted the register was wrong. But Joe Fortune is the man Andy Burnham wants running the Labour Party, and cannot even get his declared interests right while he still holds a parliamentary pass. If Labour cannot manage the paperwork on their tipped General Secretary, it is fair to ask what state the rest of the party’s affairs are going to be like under his management.”
Hostage to fortune…
Lee Anderson, speaking to The Sun’s Tom Scotson, reveals the wokest thing he’s ever done: “I once had a vegetarian thought, about becoming a vegetarian. That was quickly dismissed when I had a bacon sandwich…”