Battersea re-selection trigger ballot

petercoe Wed Jan 17, 2007 at 05:44:21 PM GMT Print-friendly version Facebook

The word on the grapevine is that Martin Linton is having some selection trouble in Battersea.



His recent "trigger ballot" to determine whether he gets automatically adopted as candidate at the next general election resulted in him failing to win a majority of CLP branch affirmative nominations.

Don't know if anyone can shed more light on what's going on there?  Battersea has a reputation for being a moderate, loyal and relatively active party so this seems more than just a few "lefties" causing trouble for a new Labour MP...

Whatever the reasons, it's surely a massive humiliation that a three-term MP representing London's most marginal seat can't win re-adoption overwhelmingly, isn't it? How out-of-touch and/or complacent must he be to have allowed this to happen?


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Battersea re-selection trigger ballot | 23 comments (23 topical)

Re: Battersea re-selection trigger ballot (#1)

by Andrea on Wed Jan 17, 2007 at 07:27:34 PM GMT

is the whole "trigger ballot" process finished? Have all branches voted?
If so, is it known which one voted against?


Re: Battersea re-selection trigger ballot (#2)

by petercoe on Wed Jan 17, 2007 at 09:46:47 PM GMT

Know very little more, Andrea - but if he didn't get a majority (as I understand he didn't) more than one branch must have voted against.  

There are seven wards in Battersea - some, I assume are combined into joint branches; I'd have thought all the branches would have voted - affiliates probably less likely to.


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Re: Battersea re-selection trigger ballot (#4)

by Andrea on Thu Jan 18, 2007 at 07:57:38 AM GMT

Thanks,Pater Coe.
If the affiliates haven't voted yet, maybe they can "save" him.


[ Parent ]

Re: Battersea re-selection trigger ballot (#3)

by cllrlinders on Wed Jan 17, 2007 at 09:54:56 PM GMT

He might be better off being deselected. He isn't going to win, at least being thrown out gives him a chance to find a new seat.


Re: Battersea re-selection trigger ballot (#5)

by Andrea on Thu Jan 18, 2007 at 08:01:00 AM GMT

well, losing the trigger ballot is not very vote winning IMO. At least if I had been a member in a vacant safe seat and I had had a deselected MP (not because he has lostan head to head with another MP where a seat has been abolished, but because he actually managed to lose the trigger ballot) in the shortlist, I wouldn't consider his/her trigger ballot loss as a strong selling point!


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Re: Battersea re-selection trigger ballot (#14)

by cllrlinders on Thu Jan 18, 2007 at 07:24:58 PM GMT

It wouldn't be ideal, but at least he'd have a chance of selection. He's not allowed to chicken-run, so if he is not deselected then his choice is to run and lose, or retire.


[ Parent ]

Re: Battersea re-selection trigger ballot (#7)

by Andrea on Thu Jan 18, 2007 at 11:29:53 AM GMT

"Members report they have been told it would 'reenergise the party' to have a reselection process "

I think that in many cases reselection fights have the opposite effect. Anyway let's see, maybe they're right this time


Re: Battersea re-selection trigger ballot (#9)

by Andrea on Thu Jan 18, 2007 at 11:57:46 AM GMT

"No, what reselection results in is talking to labour members at the expense of labour voters. "

sorry, but I didn't understand this part.

"Reselection processes are important if your MP is a liability"

I agree. I think they should use a bit more in safe seats where some MPs can become a bit too complacent (I don't mean actually deselecting them, but just making some threats to force them to raise their game)


Re: Battersea re-selection trigger ballot (#11)

by Andrea on Thu Jan 18, 2007 at 03:28:08 PM GMT

"No, what reselection results in is talking to labour members at the expense of labour voters. "

sorry, but I didn't understand this part"

forget it, I've not understood what you were saying! (I must be very slow today :-(


[ Parent ]

Re: Battersea re-selection trigger ballot (#10)

by David Boothroyd on Thu Jan 18, 2007 at 12:14:37 PM GMT

As I understand the complaint, Martin Linton is in two minds about whether to stand again. The local party knows it will have a real fight on its hands and wants an energetic candidate; if Martin Linton's prepared to be that candidate, then he will have no problem.


Re: Battersea re-selection trigger ballot (#12)

by Andrea on Thu Jan 18, 2007 at 03:31:20 PM GMT

Would have been possible (or preferable) to delay the "trigger ballot" for a couple of months to give Linton the time to reflect about his future? (And then make it if he wants to stand again or have a selection contest if he wants to stand down)


[ Parent ]

Re: Battersea re-selection trigger ballot (#13)

by petercoe on Thu Jan 18, 2007 at 07:01:53 PM GMT

News to me David - Linton has been determined to stand again as far as I know.  

But from experience of living in Battersea he's an absolutely dismal campaigner, with very little personal vote (not entirely his own fault given the huge turnover in voters every year in the constituency).

Batterseaboy evidently disagrees with that but instead of just saying he's "an asset" and expecting us all to take your word for it, give us a few examples of how he is?

Whatever the internal politics, it's just not credible to claim that his entire failure to win a majority of branches is because of the plotting of a single local activist (after all, there are always people who covet a seat - but if there's a good MP in place no amount of personal ambition could displace them).  

It just seems to me that an "asset" would have no problem getting reselected...am I being unreasonable?


[ Parent ]

Re: Battersea re-selection trigger ballot (#15)

by icepick on Fri Jan 19, 2007 at 12:35:15 AM GMT

Quite agree. Reaction on the doorstep to Linton ranges from 'haven't you retired yet' to 'I thought you were dead'.


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Re: Battersea re-selection trigger ballot (#16)

by alexhilton on Fri Jan 19, 2007 at 10:50:37 AM GMT

I would be grateful if commenters remembered that anyone can read this website and that there is a danger of giving comfort to the true enemy.

Incidentally, the Tory selection in Battersea was not without controversy.


Re: Battersea re-selection trigger ballot (#20)

by David Boothroyd on Fri Jan 19, 2007 at 01:10:06 PM GMT

The true enemy? I didn't realise George Galloway read this site.


[ Parent ]

Re: Battersea re-selection trigger ballot (#22)

by petercoe on Fri Jan 19, 2007 at 02:59:17 PM GMT

Yes Alex, in the same way that Conservative Home is publicly accessible to non-Conservatives; which is how you know that the Conservative selection in Battersea was not without its problems (along with other Conservative blogs!).

I'm not a Labour Party member - just someone interested in and not unsympathetic to Labour politics - if you wanted to confine this forum to actual members (and those who don't want the party to aspire to somewhat more competent representatives than in this case) you should say so.

I have no interest in overlooking news stories because they may be inconvenient or embarrassing to the Labour Party.  Do you?


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Re: Battersea re-selection trigger ballot (#27)

by alexhilton on Tue Jan 23, 2007 at 09:30:23 PM GMT

Petercoe - glad to have you here.

I think discussions like this should be had, but difficult subjects should be discussed carefully so that matters remain comradely.


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Re: Battersea re-selection trigger ballot (#19)

by Andrea on Fri Jan 19, 2007 at 11:45:29 AM GMT

yup, what I find surprising is that he wasn't better organized. I mean that if I had been an MP, as soon as the reselection timetible is set, I would start to call all my supporters and make sure that they'll turn out to their ward branch meetings. If a ward voted 2 to 1 against him, it means that there wasn't strong opposition to him in that ward, but that he wasn't organized enough to make sure that his supporters would have turned out (even if it was pre Christmas)


Re: Battersea re-selection trigger ballot (#23)

by petercoe on Fri Jan 19, 2007 at 03:02:16 PM GMT

To be honest, I would hope I wouldn't have to even ring round - I'd have hoped I'd be sufficiently popular to get reselected on my merits, AND sufficiently in touch with my members already to know whether there were any ambitious individuals out to cause trouble for their own selfish reasons.

Though again, we have no evidence other than battersea boy's assertion that this is an attempt by another individual to become MP instead of a local party fed up with a useless, lazy and complacent incumbent...


[ Parent ]

Re: Battersea re-selection trigger ballot (#24)

by Andrea on Fri Jan 19, 2007 at 04:54:11 PM GMT

Peter Coe, do you have more info about the whole process (if it's finished, if the affiliates have also already voted and how many branches overall voted against)?


[ Parent ]

Re: Battersea re-selection trigger ballot (#25)

by petercoe on Fri Jan 19, 2007 at 05:54:47 PM GMT

Andrea; I don't have very much more on the process but here's the crux (for me, anyway):

As I understand it, at the closing date for trigger vote submissions the only votes received were from the CLP branches.  

The Secretary than rang the result through to London Region (which is why I'm assuming the deadline had passed - why would she phone results through if the deadline hadn't passed?)

Almost immediately, a Union (which I understand to be Amicus) was contacted by the Regional Director and asked to cast its vote in favour of Linton, which it now has.

As that vote tipped the ballot in favour of Linton, it follows that the CLP branch vote was tied given that an incumbent needs a majority to be automatically reselected.  

I don't know whether that means 1/1, 2/2 or 3/3 - presumably it can't be 4/4 as there are only seven wards to start with.  


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Re: Battersea re-selection trigger ballot (#26)

by Andrea on Sat Jan 20, 2007 at 12:48:46 PM GMT

Thanks Peter Coe.

It all sounds pretty weird!


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Re: Battersea re-selection trigger ballot (#21)

by Andrea on Fri Jan 19, 2007 at 02:09:35 PM GMT

Some comments seem to have disappeared (and so I look like a mad person replying to non existing comments!)


Battersea re-selection trigger ballot | 23 comments (23 topical)