Labour looking to remove Tom Watson

[BlackLabel]

Watson was more Brownite than Blairite. It was only Momentum types that thought of him as the latter whereas it was Watson that led the Brownite rebellion against Tony Blair in the mid 00s.

[anonymous-user]

I read elsewhere that he was in charge of the 2015 Labour Election campaign. ?
I don't know if that's true I definitely thought it was other people but if it was then it was a disaster

[The Don of Croy]

I've just finished the latest Private Eye and - to my surprise - there's nothing about TW (aside from one cartoon).

No whispers, no political obit, not even a dig at his funding from Max Spanky.

Just seems odd. Not like PE to avoid kicking a man when he's down, let alone twisting the knife. They had a big piece about Carl Beach a few issues back, they have previously described TW's work for the Brown premiership (and we all remember that golden period) and his opposition to Momentum etc., but for someone 'in his prime' to walk away from the heart of a leading political movement at the most critical time...curious.

Either he's coming back soon (and getting a free pass from the press) or he really has just 'left'. Or maybe he's transitioning into a lizard?

[The Surveyor]

The Don of Croy said:

…….

Either he's coming back soon (and getting a free pass from the press) …...

Getting ready for a leadership bid IMHO. Looking at the predictions of another Corbyn failure in the election, there will be leadership challenge in the New Year and with Watson nicely disassociated from Corbyns campaign, the door will be very much open for the perceived moderate Watson.

[anonymous-user]

The Surveyor said:

The Don of Croy said:

…….

Either he's coming back soon (and getting a free pass from the press) …...

Getting ready for a leadership bid IMHO. Looking at the predictions of another Corbyn failure in the election, there will be leadership challenge in the New Year and with Watson nicely disassociated from Corbyns campaign, the door will be very much open for the perceived moderate Watson.

Will McDonnell go with corbyn? I thought he was a shoe in to replace him with momentum calling the shots?

[9xxNick]

Which would argue that he thinks he can get sufficient support from non-Momentum members in the Constituency Labour Party. Is that a practical possibility? The Party rules have already been changed so that Momentum can always field at least one candidate even if that candidate enjoys only minimal support from the Parliamentary Party, so that's not a hurdle to a competitive leadership bid from the hard left.

[turbobloke]

The Surveyor said:

The Don of Croy said:

…….

Either he's coming back soon (and getting a free pass from the press) …...

Getting ready for a leadership bid IMHO. Looking at the predictions of another Corbyn failure in the election, there will be leadership challenge in the New Year and with Watson nicely disassociated from Corbyns campaign, the door will be very much open for the perceived moderate Watson.

9xxNick said:

Which would argue that he thinks he can get sufficient support from non-Momentum members in the Constituency Labour Party. Is that a practical possibility? The Party rules have already been changed so that Momentum can always field at least one candidate even if that candidate enjoys only minimal support from the Parliamentary Party, so that's not a hurdle to a competitive leadership bid from the hard left.

Watson was already sidelined by the move to have a second Deputy (who must be a woman).

Last year Labour’s National Executive Committee voted in rule changes which facilitated the deselection of sitting MPs and made it easier for a far left successor to Jeremy Corbyn to secure a place in the leadership ballot. Previously a candidate had to obtain the backing of 10% of Labour MPs and MEPs. Momentum saw this as a barrier to a left-wing candidate in Corbyn's likeness gaining enough nominations to make it through to a vote of Party members. After the procedural changes there's an additional criterion (5% of local members or 5% of local union members) handing an effective veto to 'grassroots' activists.

Momentum keep busy.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/mar/18/r...

Watson has got his work cut out to make it to the ballot, never mind winning it, and what we see happening in Labour is a reasonable blueprint for what would happen to the democratic process in a Labour government.