Labour’s PPC: The battle warms up / Guest Post by Cllr. Steve Barber: In Support of Nick Palmer.

The battle for PPC heats up. A look over at stalking horse Nick McDonald’s endorsments make interesting reading.  No surprises with Milan Radulovic, who still bears a grudge against Palmer; or Head of the City Council Jon Collins, presently a colleague of NM. Nttm East MP Chris Leslie also endorses: again, city connections. Cllr. Andy Cooper, Kimberley, is a surprise. though I think his endorsement would have gone to Greg Marshall if he’d known he was standing.

 Palmer also has an impressive roster: Paddy Tipping; Richard Lea (secretary of Broxtowe UNISON); Cllr. Janet and David Patrick (the Patricks being very central to Beeston Labour; their home is effectively Palmer’s boarding house duting campaign forays), County Cllr. Kate Foale; Cllr. Richard Robinson; Cllr. Steve Barber – more on him later- and many grass-roots activists ont he local Labour scene.

Greg Marshall is impressing, picking up votes from those pleased with his anti-academy work, and his long-term opposition to the cuts. He’s definately swinging the argument to the left, which is no bad thing when Labour in Westminster presently seem so supine to Osbornomics. I met with Andy Cooper yesterday who told me ‘We just need a good battle. It’s healthy’. Palmer agrees, telling me ‘It’s like the American Primaries: it’s good for sharpening our message’.

Indeed. Palmer is still the strongest candidate, but, as in the 2010 Labour Leadership election, these things are far from certain.

Other candidates will hopefully soon be laying out their cases here. Atul Joshi is running what looks like an energetic campaign, and has promised a piece, so will host once recieved.

In the meantime, Steve Barber has wrote the following in support of Palmer’s reelection:

I have worked for MPs for over 8 years and it’s true to say that I have never known the job to be as stressful as it is now. This is entirely due to the misery caused by poverty, lack of opportunities and the constant wearing down of the poor and northern working class by a London based government run by clueless public schoolboys. In the 5 years I worked for Nick I recall two constituents who felt so hopeless they considered ending it all; now I get two suicide threats each week and sooner or later one of them is sadly going to carry it out; I dread that happening.

 

I’ll be frank now – it’s up to you to stop this. We must replace the Westminster Government in 22 months’ time. Broxtowe is a super marginal and Labour must win it. We are now at the selection stage when we decide who, with our support, will win or lose it. My experience tells me that only one person can be confident of winning it; Nick Palmer. He has campaigned and built up a huge amount of respect, not to mention his 6,000+ email list over the last 20 years. He comes with a package of thousands of votes which simply will not transfer to anyone else To expect another candidate to be able to gain the respect he has justifiably won over 20 years in just over 20 months is to a great deal. Why should we risk it?

 

Sorry to be so blunt but how would we all feel if in May 2015 our candidate didn’t get Broxtowe and the nation had to contend with another 5 years of this dreadful government? Being super-marginal and a history of being safe Tory we do not have the luxury of playing it any other way playing to win.

 

And if you’re reading this and care about what’s happening but don’t think of yourself as a party person, isn’t it time to join Labour and help in the coming 22 months to get the change we so desperately need? We don’t agree about everything and you don’t need to either – but isn’t it the side you’d rather be on? See https://join.labour.org.uk/ !