Sep/10
23:14 9
Shadow Cabinet update: Alan Johnson to run
Former Home Secretary Alan Johnson has declared he is to run for the Shadow Cabinet in the forthcoming elections. It had previously been thought that Mr. Johnson would follow top-cabinet colleagues like Alastair Darling and Jack Straw in stepping back from the political front line.
Johnson’s decision could potentially scupper the Shadow Cabinet plans of leadership contenders as it would be hard to sideline such a high profile and popular figure. Since Scrapbook last covered the Shadow Cabinet elections it has become increasingly clear who the major players are and what jobs they fancy.
In the event of a Miliband (D) victory Douglas Alexander is being lined up as a potential Shadow Foreign Secretary, with fellow Scot (and campaign organiser) Jim Murphy being considered for either Defence or Work and Pensions.Harriet Harman is rumoured to be getting the Justice brief regardless of who wins, and though he fancies the Shadow Chancellorship speculation is rife that Ed balls is being lined up as a Shadow Home Secretary – a prospect that may have been scuppered by Johnson’s announcement.
Top posts are filling up fast.
And this is before trying to squeeze in whichever of the Milibrothers comes second.
Aug/10
17:18 6
Jack Straw to declare for David Miliband in Labour leadership contest
UPDATE 21:40 The Guardian have the story, with quotes from Straw: “[David Miliband] has the strength and the depth to stand up to David Cameron at prime minister’s questions week after week, and he can stand up for the people who will be most badly hit in our communities by the policies of this Con/LibDem government.”
Where the Labour leadership contest is concerned, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to establish where Jack Straw’s sympathies might lie. With the frantic eleventh-hour push to get Diane Abbot on the ballot, our analysis of her nominations in June tracked the flow of support from two sources: splinters from the John McDonnell camp and other backers “donated” by the older Miliband. Unless the great survivor of Labour politics was, unbeknown to the Westminster village, a secret sleeper agent for the Socialist Campaign Group, Jack would be backing David.
With any announcement of substance amplified by the news vacuum of parliamentary recess, this Animal has heard whisper that an official statement may be forthcoming, possibly before the weekend. This brings into relief some canny tactics from MiliD: anyone nominating Diane Abbot could be held back for a subsequent announcement of genuine support at a time of the campaign’s choosing.
Clever boy.
May/10
14:39 3
The best campaign ever (as endorsed by Craig Murray)
The former British ambassador and connoisseur of Tashkent strip clubs Craig Murray famously stood against Jack Straw in the 2005 general election. Apparently still consumed with bitterness towards his former boss, Murray again weighed into the recent contest in Blackburn, backing an apparently “credible and impressive” independent candidate and even travelling to Lancashire to speak at an election event. True to form, Murray had identified someone with a weaker purchase on reality than himself in the form of deposit-losing embarrassment Bushra Irfan. Conor Pope’s hilarious dissection of her election leaflet is also available on his blog The Audacity of Pope.
You’re an independent candidate in a safe seat, where the incumbent MP is a minister. Your leaflet needs to make an impact, to raise your profile in the constituency.
The first thing you need to do, the absolute no-brainer, is to have your face super-imposed onto a symbol of hope that has a strong connection with the town you’re standing in. For example, if you’re standing in Blackburn, the Statue of Liberty would be the logical choice.
Next, you should probably have the word STOP! in big red letters above a picture of you making a gesture that looks reassuringly similar to a fascist salute.
Also, have a checklist of bad things the current MP has done. Try and over all bases; accuse them of being war criminal and a murderer, but also of “being insensitive”.
The last thing – and this is a biggie, this’ll show people you’re serious – the last thing you absolutely have to do, is get a picture of the defending MP and (this is the clever bit) mock him up like a vampire. Yeah, a vampire. Think about it. A vampire, with blood dripping from his mouth. That’ll work.
The PPC of this story is the, er, flamboyant Bushra Irfan, who was supported by the conspiracy nutjob and Independent candidate in Blackburn at the ’05 General Election, Craig Murray. Together they brought a bit of colour to the campaign. Ms Irfan stood in Blackburn this time around, polling fewer than 1,500 votes.
You can follow Conor on Twitter @conorpope.
Nov/09
14:43 3
Kamikaze independent candidates (episode one)
It’s probably quicker and easier to burn that £500, but many with more money than sense prefer to blow the money on a deposit in order to humiliate themselves as hopeless independent candidates.* In the run up to the general election Scrapbook will be paying tribute to these kamikaze politicos with this irregular feature.
The man below is standing against Jack Straw in Blackburn. It all looks a bit Screaming Lord Sutch but Scrapbook isn’t convinced that this is for show!
I’m sure the Justice Secretary must be terrified.
*Don’t even start with “typical Labour arrogance” etc. We’re talking John Smeaton and Sir James Goldsmith here, not Martin Bell or Peter Law.
Oct/09
10:40 4
Yet more lies? Did Nick Griffin’s father really serve in WWII?
One of the only punches Nick Griffin managed to land on the other Question Time panellists was something of a low blow. While his father saw service as a Spitfire engineer in World War II, Jack Straw’s old man was a conscientious objector.
The Suffolk Evening Star carried an interview with Edgar Griffin yesterday, detailing his two years “National Service” in India. Suspicions arise as conscription (and National Service) didn’t start until 1948 – three years after the war finished.
It’s a bit complicated but Unity has more over at Liberal Conspiracy.
Oct/09
18:06 15
Jack Straw, Sayeeda Warsi, Chris Huhne and Bonnie Greer to face BNP leader on Question Time
The addition of Tory peer Sayeeda Warsi to BBC Question Time on 22 October completes a lineup of Chris Huhne, Jack Straw and Bonnie Greer to appear alongside BNP leader Nick Griffin.
Reaction on the blogs has been mute, with Sunny Hundal questioning the appropriateness of a softly spoken, middle class American playwright (flanked by two white, middle class frontbenchers) to take on Nick Griffin:
“Middle class people generally hate cheap populism and the use of emotion to make political points. They prefer ‘rational argument’. Fuck that. The way to destroy the BNP is through emotional narratives and populism.” – Sunny Hundal
Further reaction available from Nothing British and ConservativeHome [will update this later this with more as it comes in]. The Times also has something from earlier today mooting Warsi as a possibility while arguing that William Hague would have been the better choice.
Scrapbook can’t promise not to shout at the TV.
Sep/09
12:41 1
Fighting talk from Jack Straw
“The Tories will cut because they want to. It’s in their DNA.”
Jack Straw has just wooed the conference hall with by far and away the most strident speech delivery of any Labour minister.
No grey suits here!
Sep/09
13:33 10
Brown backs Straw to tackle BNP on Question Time?
Following the announcement this week that Labour is to drop its policy on sharing a platform with the BNP, Justice Secretary Jack Straw is the latest name touted to appear on Question Time alongside BNP leader Nick Griffin.
According to Lancaster Unity, Gordon Brown is taking a “personal interest” in the issue and favours Jack Straw, whose Blackburn constituency has one of the highest levels of immigration in the country, as the man to take on the BNP.
“We have to put up a heavyweight, otherwise we will be accused of giving Griffin too easy a time of it.” – Labour Party source
“Street smart and funny” Home Secretary Alan Johnson has signalled he is willing to appear, while Labour blogger Chris Paul has suggested Billy Bragg, Meera Syal or someone else with the “means to ridicule his nastiness”.
For fear of sparking unrest in areas of racial tension, BBC sources have confirmed that the edition featuring the BNP will be filmed in London.
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