Oldham East and Saddleworth

Posts Tagged ‘Oldham East and Saddleworth’

Oldham win lifts Labour out of relegation zone

14/01/2011, 07:00:32 AM

by Atul Hatwal

It’s a tough stage of the season in both football and politics. The threat of relegation stalks struggling teams. Managers are desperate for some breathing space. Only one thing can help: a win. Every game is like a cup final.

Last night Ed Miliband lifted the coveted Oldham East and Saddleworth cup. For once, the morning’s newspapers provide decent reading for Labour. There will be no need for hastily arranged media interviews to stamp on rumours about losing the dressing room. Victory has bought the Labour leadership time.

The question is: how will they use it?

Learning from a win can be difficult. The temptation is to take it as a vindication of all that has gone before. But booking the open-top bus would be premature. There is plenty of cause for caution.

Recent polls paint a picture of an electorate that has not changed its mind on the fundamentals since the election. 40% of people think that the cuts are Labour’s fault. 52% think that they are necessary.

The most relevant polling is on the impact of the cuts. 51% believe the cuts will only affect their family’s income a little and 16% not at all. 63% do not think their job is at risk.

Two-thirds of the electorate think that it’s all going to be ok. (more…)

Posted in Uncut | 23 Comments »

David Cameron gets Tory candidate’s name wrong in Oldham East & Saddleworth

06/01/2011, 07:01:49 PM

David Cameron has been up in Oldham and Saddleworth today doing some ‘stealth campaigning’. But just in case any one got the wrong end of the stick and thought Dave wanted the Tory candidate Kashif Ali to win – he demonstrated his lack of interest in the Tory campaign by getting the candidates name wrong in an interview with the Beeb.

You can listen to it here: cameron_oldham_gaffe

Q: How worried are you that there’s going to be an anti-government reaction here? This is people’s first chance to shown what they think of the coalition?

DC: I think what we’ll be saying is look this is actually about choosing a new Member of Parliament for Oldham and Saddleworth. That’s the key thing and who’s going to make the best candidate to replace the Labour MP who you know, had the seat taken away from him because of the way he behaved during the election. And that’s really what it’s about, is someone to stand up for this area in Parliament and our candidate Ashif [sic] is very very strong, I think he’ll do a very good job.

Update: Those little tinkers at Political Scrapbook got hold of the video and made this little beauty

Posted in Inside | 2 Comments »

Labour selects candidate for Oldham East & Saddleworth by-election

12/12/2010, 04:40:38 PM

Debbie Abrahams has been selected to fight Oldham East & Saddleworth

Labour has selected Debbie Abrahams as its candidate in the Oldham East and Saddleworth by-election which follows the disqualification of former MP, Phil Woolas. She beat Riaz Ahmed and Cllr Abdul Jabbar, who were also shortlisted yesterday, in a selection by members at a count at Queen Elizabeth Hall in Oldham.

Abrahams was Labour’s candidate in Colne Valley at this year’s general election, coming third behind the Tories and Lib Dems. She is a public health consultant, a former director of public health research at Liverpool university and is the former chair of Rochdale primary care trust. She lives in Oldham with her husband, a former professional cricketer who now coaches the England under 19s, and their two daughters.

On winning the selection she said:

“It’s an honour and a privilege to have been selected as Labour’s candidate. Now I’m looking forward to getting out and meeting as many residents as possible in the next few weeks to listen to their concerns.

It’s important that the real issues and concerns of people in the borough are not lost during this by-election campaign. People feel let down by the LibDem-Tory broken promises on police cuts, tuition fees and VAT. It doesn’t have to be this way, there is an alternative.

This is an opportunity for people to send a message to the government. Oldham East and Saddleworth needs a Labour MP who will stand up and fight for them. I’m determined to keep my promises and deliver the best possible deal for people in this borough”.

The writ is expected to be moved in the new year, with Labour looking to hold the by-election on February 3rd.

UPDATE: Debbie has just recorded this message..