Martin O’Donovan « Labour Uncut

Posts Tagged ‘Martin O’Donovan’

“Trust the party” update: the 18 minute PLP elections

25/01/2011, 01:06:59 PM

A resignedly amused member of the PLP forwarded the below email to Uncut yesterday.

At the top, our friendly MP wrote:

This is hilarious.

I think this was the first notification – although I may be wrong.

So much for the new inclusive “trust the party” approach.

His point is that this “reminder” about the noon close of nominations for these single place elections was emailed to MPs at 11.42. Giving interested parties a whole 18 minutes to consider their options, canvass opinion, build coalitions, and so on.

If this was, as our correspondent believes, the first emailed notification sent to MPs, then the PLP aparat truly is approaching Ceau?escu levels of trust and inclusivity.

From: PLP Resource Centre

Sent: 24 January 2011 11:42

Subject: REMINDER: PLP Elections (NEC and Parliamentary Committee) – Close of Nominations TODAY at 12noon

Importance: High

To Labour MPs

Dear Colleague

Please note, NOMINATIONS for the following vacancies, will close at 12noon TODAY, Monday, 24 January.

ONE vacancy for a backbench representative on the NEC (please note this vacancy must be filled by a woman)
ONE vacancy for a backbench representative on the Parliamentary Committee

If interested please contact Martin O’Donovan on xxxxx or email xxxxxxx asap.

UPDATE: A disgruntled Labour spinner has been in touch to say that “the timetable was in the whip two weeks running and read out at the packed PLP meeting last Monday.”

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PLP elections today: Parliamentary committee and select committees

26/10/2010, 11:15:29 AM

From: O’DONOVAN, Martin
Sent: 25 October 2010 17:17
Subject: PLP elections – CLOSE OF NOMINATIONS

FAO Labour MPs

At 5pm this evening nominations closed ahead of tomorrow’s PLP elections.

1. TOMORROW’S BALLOTS
We now move to ballot to fill the following vacancies:

(i) PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE – SIX VACANCIES (please note only backbench MPs can vote in this contest)
Please note you must vote for at least two women
CANDIDATES: John Cryer, Nic Dakin, Geraint Davies, Clive Efford, Bill Esterton, Sheila Gilmore, Kate Green, Steve McCabe, Siobhain McDonagh, Jim Sheridan, Valerie Vaz

(ii) FOREIGN AFFAIRS SELECT COMMITTEE – ONE VACANCY (all Labour MPs may vote in this contest)
CANDIDATES: Bob Ainsworth, Jeremy Corbyn, Fabian Hamilton, Mark Hendrick, Yasmin Qureshi

(iii) INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT SELECT COMMITTEE – TWO VACANCIES (all Labour MPs may vote in this contest)
CANDIDATES: Michael McCann, Alison McGovern, Pamela Nash

(iv) NATO PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY – FOUR REMAINING VACANCIES (all Labour MPs may vote in this contest)
Please note – Madeleine Moon has been elected as there is not a contest to fill the two vacancies for women members
CANDIDATES: Hugh Bayley, David Crausby, Mike Gapes, Jim Hood, Ian Murray, John Robertson

(v) OSCE PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY – TWO REMAINING VACANCIES (all Labour MPs may vote in this contest)
Please note Linda Riordan has been elected as there is not a contest to fill the vacancy for women members
CANDIDATES: Tony Lloyd, Dai Havard, Nick Smith, Linda Riordan, Mark Hendrick

The ballot will run from 10am to 5pm tomorrow in the PLP Office, West Cloister.

2. ELECTED UNOPPOSED
Please note the following colleagues have been elected unopposed to fill the following vacancies:

BIS – Gregg McClymont, Paul Blomfield, Ian Murray, Katy Clark
CLG – Simon Danczuk, David Heyes
Defence – Thomas Docherty, Dai Havard, Sandra Osborne
Education – Bill Esterton
DECC – Barry Gardiner, Ian Lavery
Health – Yvonne Fovargue
Northern Ireland – Kate Hoey
Transport – Julie Hilling, Gavin Shuker
Work and Pensions – Teresa Pearce, Alex Cunningham, Glenda Jackson
Finance and Services – Clive Betts
Public Accounts – Stella Creasy
Public Administration – Lindsay Roy

Council of Europe – Paul Flynn, Geraint Davies, Alan Meale, Jim Hood, Virendra Sharma, Jim Sheridan, Joe Benton, Sandra Osborne, Ann Coffey, Yasmin Qureshi, Michael Connarty, Jim Dobbin

House of Commons Commission – Frank Doran

3. REMAINING VACANCIES
We still have the following vacancies. Frontbench colleagues will be asked to remain on these Committees until such time as we elect a successor.

DEFRA
Political and Constitutional (2)
Science and Technology
Welsh Affairs (2)
Environmental Audit
Human Rights
Public Administration (2)
Finance and Services
Administration

Martin O’Donovan
Director of Unit and PLP Secretary

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Select and Parliamentary committee vacancies and elections: latest

22/10/2010, 11:47:16 AM

From: O’DONOVAN, Martin

Sent: 19 October 2010 17:00

Subject: UPDATE: VACANCIES AHEAD OF BALLOT NEXT TUESDAY

FAO Labour MPs

As colleagues will be aware we have a number of vacancies to various bodies that we need to fill in the coming days.

As agreed at last night’s PLP meeting the ballots for every vacancy where a ballot is required will take place next Tuesday (26 October) from 10am-5pm in the PLP Office.

We have four different categories of vacancies:

1. Select Committee vacancies

2. Parliamentary Committee vacancies

3. House of Commons Commission vacancy

4. Vacancies to serve on international Bodies (Council of Europe, NATO and OSCE)

In every case the deadline for nominations is next Monday (25 October) at 5pm. The deadline for agreeing proxy votes in 7pm on the same day.

1. Select Committees – expressions of interest

Following the announcement of the new shadow ministerial team we have a number of vacancies on Select Committees. Many thanks to everyone who has already expressed an interest.

We have the following vacancies – please email me with your expressions of interest: (more…)

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Select committee vacancies caused by front bench appointments

15/10/2010, 11:34:46 AM

We have been asked what happens to elected Labour members of select committees now that many of them have been appointed to the front bench.

The short answer is that there are fresh elections for the newly created places. On one select committee (BIS), the entire Labour cohort of new intakers (Luciana Berger, Jack Dromey, Chi Onwurah and Rachel Reeves) has been catapulted to shadow ministerial stardom. On most of the others, only a couple of places are at stake.

The full details are set out in the email below, to Labour MPs from PLP secretary, Martin O’Donovan. (more…)

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Timetable for elections to the PLP Parliamentary committee

14/10/2010, 08:00:49 PM

We have been asked about the timetable and process for the election of the six members of the PLP Parliamentary committee. This is the group of backbenchers who meet weekly with the leader to keep him in touch with the views of the PLP rank-and-file.

The last time we were in opposition, the Parliamentary committee was the shadow cabinet. Standing orders have now changed to allow it to continue as a backbench body.

The timetable for the election is set out in the email below, from Martin O’Donovan, the PLP secretary.

(Tony Lloyd was elected unopposed as PLP chair).

From: O’DONOVAN, Martin
Sent: 12 October 2010 14:26
Subject: Reminder: PLP Chair and Parliamentary Committee elections

FAO Labour MPs

Dear Colleagues

Please find below a reminder of the timetables for the election of a PLP Chair and the new Parliamentary Committee:

PLP Chair
Nominations opened yesterday, and please note that nominations close TOMORROW (Wednesday) at 6pm. Full timetable is as follows:

Open nominations 9.00am Monday, 11 October
Close of nominations 6.00pm Wednesday, 13 October
Appointment of a proxy 7.00pm Monday, 18 October
Ballot 10.00am to 5.00pm Tuesday, 19 October

Parliamentary Committee
The timetable is as follows:

Open nominations 10.00am Wednesday, 20 October
Close of nominations 5.00pm Monday, 25 October
Appointment of a proxy 7.00pm Monday, 25 October
Ballot 10.00am to 5.00pm Tuesday, 26 October

Best wishes

Martin O’Donovan
Returning Officer and PLP Secretary

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Shadow Cabinet elections: the astonishing technical complexity of writing x

17/09/2010, 04:21:04 PM

PLP secretary, Martin O’Donovan, is worried that Labour MPs are going to be thrown into disarray by the stressful business of receiving, completing and returning their shadow cabinet ballot papers. All crazy-crammed, break-neck and irresponsible, into a mere, madcap seven days of voting.

In his email below, you can hear the fear in O’Donovan’s voice. He just knows – for sure – that he’s in for massive grief.

Because the best and the brightest are going to forget to vote. And they’re going to vote for people they didn’t want to vote for by mistake. And they’re going to change their minds three days after they’ve cast their votes and want another go. And several will want to cast their votes after the ballot has closed.

And it’s all going to be his fault. All of it. So he’d better be able to explain himself. That’s why he’s writing to them every 25 minutes explaining the rules. Poor Martin. Most sophisticated electorate in the world? Yeah, right.

(more…)

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Back to school for today’s select committee elections

23/06/2010, 09:27:16 AM

It’s back to school for Labour MPs. Term has started and now it’s time to choose options.

Last night, PLP secretary Martin O’Donovan sent out the rules for the next stage of choosing Labour’s select committee members. Those who put their names down for committees which proved unpopular have been elected unopposed.

But there won’t be enough chairs in the classroom for maths: it’s almost two to a seat at the treasury. (It does look good on your CV though).

Boys dominate PE and art in the DCMS nominations, with no female candidates. But most pupils went for more holidays: international development, defence and foreign affairs – the top trip committees – were as over-subscribed as the most prestigious and serious one: treasury.

Predictably less popular are science and technology, public administration and environmental audit. Empty desks and unfilled places abound. Graham Stringer, Paul Flynn and Martin Caton were the only ones to put their names forward in each case.
Each candidate’s 200 word ‘pick me’ has now been sent to the PLP. Interminable self-promoting emails have been dispatched. Surprising numbers of them have been read and considered by their peers. And they have till 5pm this evening to vote.

The full document sent out to MPs last night is here.

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Rules and candidates for today’s select committee elections

23/06/2010, 09:23:26 AM

FAO Labour MPs
At 7pm this evening (Tue 22 June) the deadline passed for nominations to the Labour vacancies on the select committees.

Please find below four key pieces of information:

– the list of nominations where we are proceeding to ballot.
– the list of the remaining committees, including those colleagues who are now

ELECTED unopposed to fill vacancies.
– details of how you submit a short statement (200 words) to the PLP Office so that we can send all statements out together

– information about proxy voting

We will now move to elect the vacancies on the following committees in a ballot in the PLP Office between 10am and 5pm on Wednesday. The names of all the candidates is also attached.

LIST OF NOMINATIONS

1. BIS (6 nominations for 4 vacancies)

(Luciana Berger, Jack Dromey, Julie Elliott, Gregg McClymont, Chi Onwurah, Rachel Reeves)

2. CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT (6 nominations for 5 vacancies)

(David Cairns, Jim Dowd, Paul Farrelly, Alan Keen, Jim Sheridan, Tom Watson)

3. DEFENCE (8 nominations for 5 vacancies)

(Thomas Docherty, Michael Dugher, David Hamilton, Dai Havard, Madeleine Moon, Alison Seabeck, Gisela Stuart, John Woodcock)

4. FOREIGN AFFAIRS (10 nominations for 5 vacancies)

(Ann Clwyd, Jeremy Corbyn, Mike Gapes, Fabian Hamilton, Mark Hendrick, Sandra Osborne, Yasmin Qureshi, Emma Reynolds, Frank Roy, David Watts)

5. HOME AFFAIRS (5 nominations for 4 vacancies)

(Steve McCabe, Alun Michael, Bridget Phillipson, Karl Turner, David Winnick)

6. INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (9 nominations for 5 vacancies)

(Hugh Bayley, Russell Brown, Richard Burden, Michael McCann, Ann McKechin, Pamela Nash, Anas Sarwar, Virendra Sharma, Marsha Singh)

7. TRANSPORT (7 nominations for 4 vacancies)

(Lilian Greenwood, Tom Harris, Julie Hilling, Kelvin Hopkins, Jonathan Reynolds, Gavin Shuker, Angela Smith)

8. TREASURY (9 nominations for 5 vacancies)

(Gordon Banks, John Cryer, Mark Lazarowicz, Andy Love, John Mann, Michael Meacher, George Mudie, Ian Murray, Chuka Umunna)

9. WORK AND PENSIONS (5 nominations for 4 vacancies)

(Karen Buck, Margaret Curran, Kate Green, Shabana Mahmood, Teresa Pearce)

MPs NOW ELECTED TO REMAINING VACANCIES

1. CHILDREN, SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES – Nic Dakin, Pat Glass, Liz Kendall, Ian Mearns, Lisa Nandy. NO VACANCIES REMAIN.

2. COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT – Heidi Alexander, Clive Efford, Toby Perkins, Chris Williamson. NO VACANCIES REMAIN.

3. ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE – Tom Greatrex, Albert Owen, John Robertson, Alan Whitehead. ONE VACANCY REMAINS.

4. ENVIRONMENTAL AUDIT – Martin Caton. THREE VACANCIES REMAIN.

5. HEALTH – Rosie Cooper, Fiona Mactaggart, Grahame Morris, Valerie Vaz. ONE VACANCY REMAINS.

6. JUSTICE – Chris Evans, Sian James, Linda Riordan. TWO VACANCIES REMAIN.

7. NORTHERN IRELAND – Gemma Doyle, Stephen Hepburn, Kate Hoey, Ian Lavery, Stephen Pound. NO VACANCIES REMAIN.

8. POLITICAL AND CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM – Sheila Gilmore, Tristram Hunt, Catherine McKinnell, Peter Soulsby. NO VACANCIES REMAIN.

9. PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION – Paul Flynn. FOUR VACANCIES REMAIN.

10. PUBLIC ACCOUNTS – Eric Joyce, Austin Mitchell, Anne McGuire, Nick Smith. NO VACANCIES REMAIN.

11. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY – Graham Stringer. THREE VACANCIES REMAIN.

12. SCOTTISH AFFAIRS – Cathy Jamieson, Jim McGovern, Fiona O’Donnell, Lindsay Roy. NO VACANCIES REMAIN.

STATEMENTS BY CANDIDATES

if you are standing in a contested ballot on Wednesday the PLP Office will be collating short (200 word) statements to be circulated to all colleagues and avoid too much email traffic. So, if you are in a contested ballot as of 7pm, please send your 200 words to me on this email address by 3pm tomorrow. All statements will then be circulated at 4pm tomorrow.

PROXY VOTES

If you need to arrange a proxy vote for Wednesday’s election please contact me by Tuesday at 5pm on this email address.

A reminder that candidates who are unsuccessful in Wednesday’s ballot may apply for remaining vacancies, as may any eligible colleague who has yet to express an interest. I will circulate the full list of vacancies on Thursday morning.

Martin O’Donovan
Director of Unit and PLP Secretary

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This morning’s email setting out rules for elections to Labour select committee vacancies

15/06/2010, 12:15:42 PM

From: O’DONOVAN, Martin

Sent: 15 June 2010 11:56

Subject: Elections to Labour vacancies on Select Committees

Importance: High

FAO Labour MPs

Please find below the agreed procedure for electing Labour members to the Select Committees, as agreed at last night’s PLP meeting. This is a pretty complex procedure, I’m very happy to answer any questions you may have. (more…)

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