Yesterday, Guido brought to light the story of a senior Labour party figure who is alleged to have fathered a child with another woman while his wife was pregnant, according to allegations in Michael Ashcroft’s explosive book Red Queen. It’s a story that has set tongues wagging amongst Lobby hacks – though some, who are in possession of the details, remain committed to a conspiracy of silence in expectation of an incoming Labour administration. Today Guido’s digging appears at the top of The Times diary column:
“It is rare for the desperate mud-slinging stage to come so early in an election campaign but Tory strategists were keen to draw attention to a paragraph buried in Michael Ashcroft’s recent biography of Angela Rayner. This wasn’t about the Labour deputy leader but an unnamed “senior party figure” who is alleged to have fathered a child out of wedlock while his wife was pregnant. The father’s name is not on the birth certificate, which led tongues to wag in the Red Lion. The story was looked into by journalists years ago and it came to nothing, but the Guido Fawkes blog is getting excited so naturally CCHQ think this could change things. Though they thought that 23 years ago when John Prescott thumped a voter and it only made Labour more popular.”
Stories that begin in diary columns have a way of ending up on the front pages…
Sunak and Starmer will go head to head tonight in the first leaders debate of the General Election campaign, and the pressure is on Rishi to deliver. CCHQ is spiralling over Nigel’s decision to stand which will no doubt eat into the Tories’ vote share. Meanwhile, Tory candidates and HQ staff are still angry about the snap decision to call the election early. Very few were prepared…
So far, the campaign for the Tories hasn’t gone smoothly, announcing policies such as National Service and a cap on visa for migrants – though with very few details accompanying them. Starmer will be sure to attack Sunak on the lack of detail and the Tories’ track record on these issues. Rishi will likely blast Starmer for his former friends like Corbyn and LOTO’s turmoil over the Labour left purge, which ended with him conceding on letting Diane Abbott back into the fray. Starmer has Deputy Leader Angela Rayner to thank for that one…
The chatter amongst the denizens of SW1 is that Sunak needs to nail this debate if he is to have any hope of a bump in the polls and support from the party – one Tory candidate is making their decision on whether they defect to Reform based on the outcome. The hour-long debate will be hosted by Manchester’s MediaCity UK, and moderated by Julie Etchingham. Co-conspirators can watch it live at 9pm on ITV. Stay tuned to Guido for the best coverage…
Guido understands that the Labour Party have suspended Khuram Majid, Labour’s council candidate for the Elland Ward in Calderdale from the local elections following Guido’s story on his social media posts suggesting that Israel should not have been “surprised” about the “inevitable” Hamas bombings. Another one bites the dust…
He’s now pending an investigation, with no party support for his campaign. With the local elections less than two weeks away, as with Azhar Ali in the Rochdale by-election, Majid has to remain on the ballot. Apparently Labour central HQ were made aware of Majid’s questionable views early doors, though are being very slow in releasing an official statement. History does repeat itself…
An interesting nugget emerged at the last Labour NEC meeting on the 26th March. Labour is powering through candidate selections at such a rate that senior local members aren’t even being told by the central party. They are finding out who their own candidate is online after selections have been made…
Longtime NEC member Ann Black reveals in her minutes:
“I apologise again to CLPs who are still awaiting a parliamentary candidate, or who feel they have had insufficient choice. With support from other representatives I repeated requests for regular communication with the “non-battleground” seats. Some CLPs discovered their candidate through social media, others were informed of shortlists 12 days after the candidates. Shortlisting panels were proud of having arranged a diverse group of candidates, but the NEC must then take responsibility for supporting them and building connections with local parties where necessary.”
Labour is considerably ahead of the Conservatives when it comes to confirming parliamentary candidates for the upcoming election. The Tories still have a significant number of defensive seats to select in, and recent bungled selections leading to the reopening of the process has led to delays. If the starting gun on the election was fired soon, Labour would be quicker out the traps. In many seats Labour has been campaigning with a confirmed candidate for many months…
Thames Water is £18.3 billion underwater in debts, cannot find new equity investors and its current shareholders are turning off the tap. If the company cannot pay those debts, under the current system, Ofwat’s ‘special administration regime’ will kick in – a.k.a. forced nationalisation. That would be somewhat awkward for the government, which has staunchly defended water privatisation. A summer collapse of Thames Water would be a major headache for Sunak…
A row is raging inside Labour about how they would deal with the situation. Labour’s left has long called for water nationalisation, a key plank of Corbyn era policy, which is now being pushed in a new campaign by Clive Lewis and John McDonnell. But Starmer’s team is privately briefing the water industry that any form of even part nationalisation will not be anywhere near the manifesto despite current events – last year Rachel Reeves publicly ditched their policy on water renationalisation. According to industry insiders, Labour is instead soft testing the idea of a community interest company to replace the failing utility provider. Starmer told reporters earlier this year that it’s ‘time for a rethink’ on water privatisation, but then ruled out nationalisation. Clear as mud…
There is scant evidence that any form of nationalisation or ‘community ownership’ would help Thames. Nationalised water companies are even less efficient, as the experience in Ireland and Northern Ireland shows. In Scotland, the then Labour government changed the company’s reporting regime so that its performance was artificially enhanced. The UK’s water bills are among the lowest in developed economies. Would they be under Labour…
The dearth of business experience among potential Labour MPs has been exposed, with over 60% of candidates vying for Labour’s top 100 winnable seats currently employed or have recently worked in the public or not-for-profit sector, according to consultancy Apella Advisors. Of the 36 that technically work in the private sector, they won’t exactly resonate with many business leaders, having jobs in law, writing, polling and PR. Only one works for a company listed on the London Stock Exchange. When their Shadow Secretary for Business and Trade is a career politician with no private sector background, the Labour candidates are only following suit…
James Kirkup, Partner at Apella Advisors wrote in The Times:
“If Labour is in power after the next election, British business will have to work harder than ever to explain itself to the people who make up the governing party.”
Starmer and Reeves have been doing the rounds trying to convince global business leaders of their competence in handling business and trade, with many CEOs questioning the instincts of the party. Turns out, they were right to ask questions and these latest figures will reignite fears about the lack of business experience among Labour MPs; if these 100 Labour candidates are elected as expected, they will make up one third of the governing party. If Labour really are “pro-business” then they should have fielded candidates with business rather than bureaucratic expertise…
