All the way back in 2022 reformed Trotskyite Paul Mason began seeking his parliamentary path to socialism by standing to be Labour’s candidate in Stretford and Urmston. He failed in that selection. And two more…
Rumours have swirled since last Summer that Mason would take the fight to Corbyn in Islington North. Mason announced last night that he is seeking the selection – a fourth try. Slightly younger socialist Twitterati are back to relentless mockery following this latest case of carpet bagging. Where’s your solidarity?
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 https://t.co/sIY4qiwgGa
— Owen Jones (@OwenJones84) May 15, 2024
Anti-Corbyn Mason might not have much truck with the local party, seeing as they passed a motion with 98% last year in favour of their old party leader. Guido, for one, hopes Mason gets the hotly contested selection. Then maybe a head-to-head against Suzie Izzard at the next election?
In April, Guido asked the perennial question: where will Paul Mason lose next? Now there may be an answer. According to Patrick Maguire, Mason is mulling a bid for the Labour candidacy in Islington North, setting up a ferocious battle against his former pal Jeremy Corbyn. Provided Mason actually wins the nomination this time…
There had been rumours this would be Mason’s next battleground ever since he lost the selection contest in Pembrokeshire…and Sheffield Central, and Stretford and Urmston. The one thing Mason hasn’t lost is his determination. To show his dedication to Islington, he followed the Islington North CLP Twitter account earlier this week. Presumably he didn’t do this sooner because he was too busy dreaming up reasons why he was a local boy done good in Pembrokeshire. Or Sheffield.
Either way, the Islington North CLP are still fiercely loyal to their old comrade Jeremy. In May, they passed a motion with 98% in favour of the absolute boy. Labour still haven’t set out a timetable for the candidacy selection – Sam Tarry was another rumoured contender – so Mason still has time to build some grassroots support, or at least figure out where he’ll contest next after losing again. Will Suzy Izzard give it another go as well?
Fresh from a crushing defeat in Sheffield Central – where he failed to receive nominations from any branch or affiliated group – and after previously losing in Stretford and Urmston, on March 3rd Paul Mason announced he would try his hand in Pembrokeshire. Paul threw everything at gaining the nomination for the seat – he played up his local credentials (a second home), developed his six local priorities and even included a Welsh translation on his website and Twitter bio. And yet, just three weeks later, he was again unsuccessful. He didn’t even make the long-list.
Paul has already removed the top-line reference for Mid & South Pembrokeshire from his website page – no doubt in preparation for his next venture – though the Welsh translations are still in place. Guido has contacted Mason to ask where he might throw his hat next? The problem for the Trotskyite* Mason is that he betrayed Corbyn and enraged his left-wing allies by becoming a Starmer cheerleader and the Starmerites don’t trust the lifelong lefties’ conversion to pragmatism in the slightest. Although you have to admire Paul’s perseverance, the younger left-wing Twitterati mock his carpet bagging relentlessly. Show some respect comrades.
*Has he recanted his decades of paper selling polemicism?
UPDATE: Paul Mason responds to Guido’s question on his future plans:
“There are no constituencies currently being advertised. I think you have to have a long term connection with a town, county or city to seek selection there”
Guido doubts finding a “long term connection” to a new constituency will prove too difficult for Paul, considering he’s already done so three times in a year…
Having failed to even make Labour’s candidate shortlist for Sheffield Central back in November, Paul Mason is giving it another go. This afternoon, he announced he’s standing in the new constituency of Mid & South Pembrokeshire/Canol a De Sir Benfro. Who knew he had such close ties to both Sheffield and Pembrokeshire…
According to his launch website, his links to the local area go back three decades. In other words, he has a second house there. The perfect candidate for a constituency where child poverty is 29%…
“My links to Pembrokeshire go back nearly thirty years; I live and work here about three months of the year. So I know Pembrokeshire deserves better than what the Tories have delivered – and how much potential there is if we just start investing in the jobs, homes and public services working people need.”
Maybe he’ll at least make the shortlist this time. Although Eddie Izzard is still reportedly looking for another seat as well…
In the Labour selection showdown no one was expecting, Paul Mason is reportedly going up against Eddie Izzard for the safe seat of Sheffield Central. Michael Crick’s seminal Twitter account keeping track of selection battles has just announced that the former Corbyn stalwart supporter is going for the constituency.
My former colleague PAUL MASON has applied to be the LABOUR candidate for the very safe seat of SHEFFIELD CENTRAL.
— @Tomorrow'sMPs (@tomorrowsmps) October 17, 2022
This week’s Twitter Bitch Fight is a left-wing box office blockbuster. In the red corner, it’s reformed Trotskyite Paul Mason. In the even redder corner, it’s literal communist Ash Sarkar. A fight for the ages…
The opening bell rang when Sarkar mocked a Redcar Labour Party campaign video which claimed “Tory cuts” had unleashed rampant crime on the local community. For uber cool online commies, streets rife with antisocial behaviour is the sort of thing only home county, pearl-clutching Tories should get het up about…
Kids on quad bikes, doing wheelies? Call Scotland Yard!
Fortunately Paul Mason was on-hand to point out that the footage clearly showed illegal behaviour, and was probably worth stopping:
Here you go: from the Northern Echo - and it's a problem in numerous working class communities, as this Walsall Police leaflet shows...oh, and age is a HRA protected characteristic for a reason: try getting out of the way if you're elderly or infirm pic.twitter.com/mK3HGGYYSf
— Paul Mason (@paulmasonnews) August 9, 2022
Sarkar was having none of it. She returned with a (far) left jab about Mason’s alleged leaked emails, which appeared to show him referring Novara and other left-wing outlets to the Foreign Office’s Counter Disinformation Unit for producing pro-Putin talking points. Awkward…
Shopping young people to the cops for riding quadbikes is nearly as risible as shopping leftwing media organisations to the security services.
— Ash Sarkar (@AyoCaesar) August 9, 2022
Mason is still claiming the contents of those leaks, including his brilliantly designed McCarthyite organogram, “may be edited, distorted or fake“. “May be”…
It was a Russian hack and leak operation that produced content that may be edited, distorted or fake. I was the victim of a serous crime. You are the victim of Russian disinformation. Read more about "tainted leak" operations here: https://t.co/mqMTlJ40Fz
Mason then tried changing the subject back to policing. To no avail…
1) I wrote an article criticising the police policy at the time.
— Ash Sarkar (@AyoCaesar) August 9, 2022
2) Answer the question – did you make a map which had an arrow pointing from Novara Media to the black community, yes or no?
At the time of going to pixel, Mason still hasn’t confirmed or denied whether he made the mind map. All in all, another entertaining bout. As always, Guido leaves it to co-conspirators to determine the winner…
