Monday 15 August 2016

Owen Smith can't even get Welsh CLP's to nominate him!



Poor Owen Smith  he seems to bw loosing everywhere  when it comes to Constituency Labour Parties 
Although they have no direct consequence on the race, they provide an early indication of how the candidates are doing in the country at large.
The Party have tried to help Smith  by suspending CLP meetings  for the duration of the contest, they can meet to plan campaign sessions, prepare for by-elections, and to issue supporting nominations. 
So far Jemmy Corbyn has 234 CLP nominations whilst Own Smith has 41 (Full list here)

I am not sure how accurate the  below Map is ut for some reason Scotland seems to be bucking the trend .

But that could be that many of those who would have supported Corbyn have already moved to the SNP Scottish Greens or SSP.

As far as I can see of those who have nominated in Wales
Welsh CLPs (10)
Corbyn
Aberconwy (did not nominate in 2015)
Ceredigion (did not nominate in 2015)
Clwyd West (did not nominate in 2015)
Delyn (nominated Yvette Cooper in 2015)
Dwyfor Meirionnydd (did not nominate in 2015)
Gower (nominated Jeremy Corbyn in 2015)
Montgomeryshire (did not nominate in 2015)
Preseli Pembrokeshire (nominated Jeremy Corbyn in 2015)
Swansea West (nominated Jeremy Corbyn in 2015)
Vale of Clwyd (did not nominate in 2015)
Smith (1)
Blaneau Gwent (nominated Jeremy Corbyn in 2015)

It must be embarrassing  for Owen Smith  a former Secretaryof State for Wales to get only  One nomination  from Welsh CLPs and as yet he does nit seem to have the support of his own CLP in  his own constituency of Pontypridd 
After all they  are more likely than others to have met Owen Smith personally  as opposed to Corbyn and be aware of his Leadership credentials .
Or maybe its the lack of it that  hasn't  seen them backing him
But it gets worse members of the that CLP have  questioned the way in which the nomination was made.
Last year all members of the Blaenau Gwent local party had a vote and nominated Jeremy Corbyn.
This year, however, a decision was taken by senior party figures that only delegates to the constituency’s general committee would be allowed to vote in a secret ballot. This resulted in Mr Smith – who stood for Labour unsuccessfully in the seat at a 2006 by-election – getting the nomination.
But a number of party members have complained on a closed Facebook page seen by us that the process was unfair.
One wrote:
 “Like a lot of other members, I was disappointed that, as a member, I couldn’t take part. Why has it been changed this time? Obviously to get a different result.”
Another stated: 
“I was so disappointed at the way the voting took place. It was the first time I had attended a meeting and I was shocked to learn the results of our vote had to then be fed into a secret ballot. What is there to be secret about?
"Everyone was open about their preferred choice and surely it would have been more honest if we could have seen exactly who the delegates were voting for.”

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Not so poor Owen Smith - unlike many of his constituents who have put their faith in Labour promises over the decades.