Quote of the day 15th July 2023

"Not very competent and massively divisive" 

This is how someone calling themselves "Northern Sense," in a post on the Whitehaven News website this evening, described the process by which Labour picked a parliamentary candidate for Copeland who will then stand for the new Whitehaven and Workington seat, thereby excluding members in a large part of the new seat from a vote in pick the parliamentary candidate they will be expected by their party to campaign and vote for.

I will also give the full quote. Obviously I do not share the views that "Northern Sense" expresses about the national parties but I find it interesting that someone who has a totally different view to me about the national parties has extremely similar views about what the process by which local parties in West Cumbria are picking candidates to be the next MP.

This was the full quote from "Northern Sense" -

"Strange old world.

At national level the Tory government is in meltdown - too many factions, not enough ideas, and out of stamina.

Yet at local level some Tories appear clearsighted - creation of a new constituency requires a new association to match it and a new candidate to fight it.

Meanwhile at national level the Labour party is increasingly striking the pose of a government in waiting, not based on policy proposals but rather on competence.

Yet at local level it's only a month ago they completed the process of selecting a candidate to fight the next general election based on the old constituency boundaries which they knew would not apply when the election came along. Not very competent and massively divisive."