Chris Leslie for Shadow Cabinet 2010
Posts Tagged ‘Shadow Cabinet’
Shadow cabinet: vote for Chris
22/09/2010, 06:39:26 PMShadow cabinet: vote for Peter
22/09/2010, 01:44:55 PMShadow cabinet: vote for Liam
22/09/2010, 01:38:20 PMEric Joyce on his journey to the shadow cabinet elections
22/09/2010, 09:00:27 AMIt’s often said that there are too few MPs with backgrounds other than purely politics. At first glance, the CVs of most former Labour cabinet ministers seem to confirm that. In fact, the Parliamentary Labour party is packed with people with other life experiences, from ex-miners like David Hamilton to teachers, social workers and – OK then – lawyers.
I think this largely unfounded perception of MP unwordliness stems from the way technocratic skills fuse with political patronage in contemporary government. That is not necessarily to be adversely critical; perhaps there is no other way. Tony and Gordon needed people in their cabinet with practical experience of how 21st century government works and naturally turned to people they’d trained up themselves. And while it’s been often remarked that it seems a bit strange for the Labour leadership to be contested by four people with essentially identical trajectories, two of them actually brothers, it’s fair to say that these people and others like them turned out to be very good at the job. (more…)
Wednesday News Review
22/09/2010, 07:31:25 AMLast day of voting
Supporters of each of the five candidates for the Labour leadership are making a last-ditch effort to secure votes before polling closes. MPs, MEPs and party members have until 5pm to cast their ballots, and votes are expected to be cast electronically via the Labour website right up until the last minute. Voting for members of trade unions and affiliated organisations closed on Tuesday. Polls suggest that shadow energy secretary Ed Miliband had closed the gap on brother David as the race came to the wire. But bookmakers Ladbrokes still made shadow foreign secretary David 1-2 favourite on Tuesday night, ahead of his younger brother on 6-4. – The Press Association
Today voting ends in Labour’s leadership contest. Mirror readers who are Labour members have until 5pm to vote. It takes just a minute online. I will be a leader who will make sure that Labour will again be a party which stands up for the hard-working majority in Britain. We all know what happened under 18 years of Tory rule. And just look at what they’ve done in their first few weeks – hiked VAT to 20%, slashed Tax Credits, frozen Child Benefit, threatened Winter Fuel Payments, axed new school buildings. Cameron promised compassionate Conservatism, but is showing that for the majority there is no such thing. – Ed Miliband, The Mirror
Left Ed, Right Ed
According to his critics, he’s a dangerous left-wing radical who, if he ever became prime minister, would take Britain back to the Socialist 1970s. According to his supporters, he’s the man who will lead Labour away from Blairism and reconnect the party with its core supporters and traditional values. Both his detractors and supporters are in agreement that Ed Miliband – who could well be Labour leader when the results of the party ballot are revealed this weekend – is the candidate for ‘change’. Miliband himself has as his campaign slogan: ‘Call for Change’. But if we look beyond the rhetoric and the sound-bites, a very different picture emerges. The reality is that Ed Miliband is not so much the ‘change’ candidate, but a politician who will deliver more of the same neo-liberal policies that both Conservative and Labour governments have followed over the past 30 years. – The First Post
Shadow cabinet: vote for Pat
21/09/2010, 04:58:32 PMShadow Cabinet: a reminder to vote for Tom
21/09/2010, 04:50:50 PMShadow cabinet: vote for Ann
20/09/2010, 02:02:00 PM________________________________
From: Ann McKechin
Sent: 20 September 2010 12:56
Subject: Ann McKechin for Labour’s Shadow Cabinet
Ann McKechin
Labour MP for Glasgow North
I am seeking your support for the Shadow Cabinet Elections.
Being in opposition is hard at any time but the coming months and years will be one of the most difficult periods in decades that this country and our Party will face.
We need to effectively represent the voices of those who will be hit hardest by the Coalition’s agenda to achieve a permanent “small state” solution but we also need to develop the right policies that will convince the electorate that there is a genuine alternative. Within the Parliamentary party we need to develop a new range of tactical skills that will require the Shadow Cabinet to work as closely as possible with backbench colleagues to maximise our efforts.
I believe I can offer a range of skills and experience to the role that will fit these challenges.
Resilience
I was chair of the Scottish Parliamentary group during the Glasgow East by-election and learnt by hard experience of the need to keep your resolve even in the toughest of times and maintain team morale. I took up my Ministerial position in the Scotland Office in the week of the Lehman Brothers collapse at a time when Labour’s support had slumped, but was determined to show that our decisions at the height of the financial crisis to take over Scotland’s major banks were the correct choice..
I took an active role in the campaigns that led to our subsequent victories in both the Glenrothes and Glasgow North East by-elections which paved the way towards our strongest electoral performance in Scotland for many years at the General Election.
Policy Development
I was Chair of the Manifesto group on International Development before the General Election.
As Chair of the All Party Group on Debt, Aid and trade I was one of the first parliamentarians to actively call for a currency transaction tax and to produce a detailed report on how it could be achieved.
Campaigning
Before I was first elected in 2001, I spent many years actively campaigning as a volunteer for OXFAM and as the Scottish representative for the World Development Movement.
As a Backbencher, I successfully lobbied for a full public inquiry on the causes of the Stockline Factory explosion in my constituency. This has led to a number of significant changes in Health & Safety practices including the current replacement of every metal LPG pipe in the country.
In this year’s Election I faced a Libdem target campaign against my seat and managed to increase both my share of the vote and majority at a fraction of the cost of my opponent’s campaign.
Understanding Opposition
As a Scotland Office Minister and now a frontbench spokesperson, I have spent the last two years on a daily basis working on how to put across our message and develop our policies against an SNP led administration.
I hope to speak to as many members of the Group as possible but if you have any queries please don’t hesitate to contact me via email or by phone on xxxxxxxxx.
Kind regards,
Ann
Shadow cabinet: vote for John
20/09/2010, 12:53:43 PM
Give us leadership, not dictatorship, says Michael Dugher
20/09/2010, 11:36:10 AMFor backbenchers, especially for the non-aspirant or the new intake, the election of the shadow cabinet is an entertaining process. Perhaps this is why so many of us voted for it. Wannabe shadow cabinet members clog up the email inboxes of hitherto ignored Parliamentary colleagues with their CVs. Backbenchers eagerly await the ‘personal notes’ from candidates to arrive in the post – handwritten to demonstrate the new closeness of the relationship.
Election friends are easily won. But when the next leader of the party says that he or she is “one of a team, not a team of one”, this time they will have to mean it. Labour needs not just a new leader, but new leadership. A different style and approach is required, including to policy-making and to working with colleagues.
All leaders, and especially aspirant leaders in the middle of a leadership election, talk about the need to do things differently, to be more inclusive, to work better with colleagues, and to more closely engage with the Parliamentary and wider party. The difference this time is that the new leader will have little choice but to do things differently. (more…)
