Seven Up In Manchester Withington
In the neighbouring constituency there are seven candidates. Five live within the constituency boundaries. Two do not.
INSIDERS
========
The insiders are Keith Bradley (Labour), an independent on NHS ticket (New Labour supporter!), Brian the Green, an emigre standing for UKIP, and wild card Yasmin (Independent). This last is by far the most interesting of the smaller parties and in dependents.
In 1997 she took the Lib Dems into second place I think. And she certainly managed one of the largest swings in the country in 2001. But she has been passed over for her agent (see Outsiders below).
Yasmin was a refugee from Saddam's Iraq. She states in her election material that she is grateful to Britain for providing refuge. She does not go as far as stating support for the war. I don't know where she stands on that.
But everyone who reads the local press knows how she came to be passed over. At the selection meeting it is alleged that elements supporting her rival stated openly that she was a liability because of her race, creed and gender.
That seems ridiculous. She has built their vote up nicely. And in Withington of all places she has the credentials to do pretty well I'd have thought.
Yasmin appealled to the Lib dem hierachy but they closed ranks and even issued press statements villifying her. She complained to the Standards Body for England but they believed that none of the individuals concerned were acting in their elected offices and that it was a private matter.
The CRE position at the moment is that they don't do political party matters. I know Yasmin remains furious at the Lib Dems and is still taking legal advice and making clear statements about them being bullies and so on.
She wears a head scarf on her leaflets and has stood repeatedly in one local ward giving her a base there. Lib Dems are writing her off and saying she will get only a handful of votes. I'm wonder if that is the same "handful of votes" i.e. many thousands that they are claiming will decide the election.
THE OUTSIDERS
=============
The Tory KAREN Bradley is from Buxton and may cause a little confusion on the ballot and do better than expected. In 1992 the Tories polled more than 14,000 votes here. They may make some ground back on the Lib Dems and at a big stretch could even win through the muddle if they could regain their form. From third to first.
The Lib Dem John Leech has a chequered career. At the start of the football season he told fibs about some offensive grafitti at the City of Manchester stadium. He claimed he had reported it three months earlier. He had not. He claimed that Council workers should have cleared it anyway. There were none on the site. He never retracted.
Earlier he had been part of a Lib Dem big lie when they continued distributing claims that Manchester had underspent passported schools money a full month or so after this was proven totally wrong. They didn't retract that either.
During the campaign he has been telling fibs about how Keith Bradley voted. Splitting hairs. But he has also been fibbing about where he actually lives.
He says Chorlton. The ward is Whalley Range and he's in the M16 part. Even the postman wouldn't say Chorlton (M21) for that part of the ward. It's a small thing. Not worth fibbing about you'd have thought. Half a mile outside the consituency would be close enough for most people.
It is Leech who put out the Cancer scare "Focus Special".
INSIDERS
========
The insiders are Keith Bradley (Labour), an independent on NHS ticket (New Labour supporter!), Brian the Green, an emigre standing for UKIP, and wild card Yasmin (Independent). This last is by far the most interesting of the smaller parties and in dependents.
In 1997 she took the Lib Dems into second place I think. And she certainly managed one of the largest swings in the country in 2001. But she has been passed over for her agent (see Outsiders below).
Yasmin was a refugee from Saddam's Iraq. She states in her election material that she is grateful to Britain for providing refuge. She does not go as far as stating support for the war. I don't know where she stands on that.
But everyone who reads the local press knows how she came to be passed over. At the selection meeting it is alleged that elements supporting her rival stated openly that she was a liability because of her race, creed and gender.
That seems ridiculous. She has built their vote up nicely. And in Withington of all places she has the credentials to do pretty well I'd have thought.
Yasmin appealled to the Lib dem hierachy but they closed ranks and even issued press statements villifying her. She complained to the Standards Body for England but they believed that none of the individuals concerned were acting in their elected offices and that it was a private matter.
The CRE position at the moment is that they don't do political party matters. I know Yasmin remains furious at the Lib Dems and is still taking legal advice and making clear statements about them being bullies and so on.
She wears a head scarf on her leaflets and has stood repeatedly in one local ward giving her a base there. Lib Dems are writing her off and saying she will get only a handful of votes. I'm wonder if that is the same "handful of votes" i.e. many thousands that they are claiming will decide the election.
THE OUTSIDERS
=============
The Tory KAREN Bradley is from Buxton and may cause a little confusion on the ballot and do better than expected. In 1992 the Tories polled more than 14,000 votes here. They may make some ground back on the Lib Dems and at a big stretch could even win through the muddle if they could regain their form. From third to first.
The Lib Dem John Leech has a chequered career. At the start of the football season he told fibs about some offensive grafitti at the City of Manchester stadium. He claimed he had reported it three months earlier. He had not. He claimed that Council workers should have cleared it anyway. There were none on the site. He never retracted.
Earlier he had been part of a Lib Dem big lie when they continued distributing claims that Manchester had underspent passported schools money a full month or so after this was proven totally wrong. They didn't retract that either.
During the campaign he has been telling fibs about how Keith Bradley voted. Splitting hairs. But he has also been fibbing about where he actually lives.
He says Chorlton. The ward is Whalley Range and he's in the M16 part. Even the postman wouldn't say Chorlton (M21) for that part of the ward. It's a small thing. Not worth fibbing about you'd have thought. Half a mile outside the consituency would be close enough for most people.
It is Leech who put out the Cancer scare "Focus Special".
posted by Chris Paul at 11:22 AM
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