The first report in the mainstream media (Guardian, this morning) of a situation which has been common knowledge for over a week. Angela Eagle is in conflict with her Wallasey Constituency Party over her bid to challenge for the leadership of the Labour Party, and their overwhelming support Jeremy Corbyn the present leader.The first report in the mainstream media (Guardian, this morning) of a situation which has been common knowledge for over a week. Angela Eagle is in conflict with her Wallasey Constituency Party over her bid to challenge for the leadership of the Labour Party, and their overwhelming support Jeremy Corbyn the present leader.
Angela Eagle is to launch her challenge for the Labour leadership, in a move which will anger many members of her Wallasey Constituency party,
There are already calls from within her constituency that she should be deselected, calls which will become more numerous when (or if) her declaration to stand is made official. Eagle has stated that she will declare today (Monday 11th July),which raises the prospect of another leadership contest in the near future, should Wallasey CLP deselect her as their MP.
I have recently come across an article written by Bob Pit which describes how Eagle first came to be the MP for Wallasey in 1992. The intervention of Frank Field (MP for the neighbouring Birkenhead constituency) and the then (1990 ) National Executive of the Labour party, was instrumental in ensuring that the conservative party candidate Lynda Chalker, held the seat until 1992gIn 1987, however, Chalker only narrowly held on to the seat, with her majority reduced from 6,708 to 279, in the face of a vigorous campaign by the local Labour party in support of its candidate, Lol Duffey.
Lol Duffey |
When the selection of the Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for the Wallasey CLP commenced in late 1991, Lol Duffy clearly emerged as the CLP preferred candidate. However, more skulduggery involving Roy Hattersley and other hand picked members of an NEC "interview panel" resulted in Angela Eagle being "parachuted in" to contest the now safe Labour seat of Wallasey. The CLP members were again denied their preferred candidate.
Lol Duffy worked diligently for Angela Eagle during the general election. “I’m not going to go off and sulk just because the NEC has broken every rule in the book to prevent me being a candidate,” he said. Thanks to the years of hard work put in by himself and others in the constituency the seat was taken from the Tories and Eagle became the first Labour MP for Wallasey.
Eagle is not then unfamiliar with intrigue and conspiracies, which may explain her contempt for a democratic decision taken only last September and for the members of her constituency party.
There are already calls from within her constituency that she should be deselected, calls which will become more numerous when (or if) her declaration to stand is made official. Eagle has stated that she will declare today (Monday 11th July),which raises the prospect of another leadership contest in the near future, should Wallasey CLP deselect her as their MP.
There are already calls from within her constituency that she should be deselected, calls which will become more numerous when (or if) her declaration to stand is made official. Eagle has stated that she will declare today (Monday 11th July),which raises the prospect of another leadership contest in the near future, should Wallasey CLP deselect her as their MP.
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