Save Twiggy

One of the biggest laughs on General Election night was seeing ultra-modernisers like Stephen Twigg and Jim Murphy win such "unwinnable" seats that they are bound to lose next time and end their Parliamentary careers. Labour's NEC has stepped forward with a consultation paper on reselection that -- amongst other things -- could allow such MPs a "chicken run" to challenge sitting MPs in safer seats. A tougher Approved List of candidates (in Scotland this has already led to soft-left MP Ian Davidson being excluded from the Scottish Parliament panel); a trigger mechanism for reselection; and whips sending reports to MPs' constituencies are all included in the document.

Copies from/responses to: Labour Party Constitutional Unit, Millbank Tower, London, SW1P 4GT.

previous article ·  July '98 index of LLB ·  write to LLB ·  LLB home page ·  next article