Stella Creasy wins in Walthamstow

Tonight, Stella Creasy won the selection to become Walthamstow's next Labour PPC. 

Creasy, a former local councillor with good connections at local and national level, beat Farmida Bi into second place.  Hina Ansari was third, followed by the other local candidate Cllr Marie Pye and then Dora Dixon Fyle, Jan Etienne and Melanie Johnson.

Well done, Stella.  Hanging onto that seat will be tough but with her bundles of energy and obviously sincere commitment to Walthamstow let's hope she sees the Lib Dems off. 



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Re: Stella Creasy wins in Walthamstow (#1)

Hanging onto that seat will be tough



Why do you think it will be tough? In 2005 Lab had a 23% majority (after a big swing to LDs). 2006 locals were pointing towards a Lab hold...has Labour position got worse in Walthm Forest in the last year/year and a half?

Re: Stella Creasy wins in Walthamstow (#2)

In a word, yes.

Re: Stella Creasy wins in Walthamstow (#3)

Congratulations.

Re: Stella Creasy wins in Walthamstow (#4)

Well done! Good to see an experienced, local candidate selected. I hope she can do something about the Wm Morris Museum and stop its contents going elsewhere.

Re: Stella Creasy wins in Walthamstow (#5)

Let's hope so.

Re: Stella Creasy wins in Walthamstow (#7)

Black Socialist Society is putting out a press release declaring it to be a sad day given that it was a winnable BME seat and blaming BME types for not uniting around one BME candidate

Re: Stella Creasy wins in Walthamstow (#8)

I doubt that "uniting round one BME candidate" would have made a difference on this occasion.
 
Walthamstow  is fairly parochial in it's political stance, and I believed from the start that a local candidate would win.
 
Since no BAME  candidate actually lives in the constituency - despite one claiming an E17 address - the members cast their vote(s) accordingly.
 

Re: Stella Creasy wins in Walthamstow (#9)

I'm not entirely sure what a 'BME type' is. The phrase has a whiff of Alf Garnett about it.

 As it happens, most of Hina Ansari's supporters switched to Creasey, in preference to Bi, in the final round. This would suggest that ethnicity issues weren't the deciding issue. It wasn't so much as a case of 'people wanting a BME candidate not deciding which one to vote for' as 'wanting a BME candidate not being a particularly powerful consideration'.

I find the voting behaviour difficult to interpret. Farmida Bi is much politically closer to Hina Ansari than to Stella Creasey. Neither of them is 'local'. So it is difficult to see why people who had cast higher preference votes  for Ansari would rate Creasey above Bi. My suspicion is that fifth and sixth preferences are chosen more arbitrarily than, say, first and second. 

Re: Stella Creasy wins in Walthamstow (#11)

i think it's dangerous to start talking about "BME" seats for BME candidates - because white people would be disenfranchised in seats with large ethnic populations to our detriment. This would make it necessary to justify having Parmjit Dhanda in Gloucester for example. We should be about bringing people together, not creating dividing lines.

I think there is a strong case for promoting more minority candidates, however, it would be divisive to put them all in inner cities when seats like Sedgefield and Easington are free to operate open shortlists and select white men.

Re: Stella Creasy wins in Walthamstow (#12)

Spot on.

Re: Stella Creasy wins in Walthamstow (#10)

Yeh, the woman won!

Re: Stella Creasy wins in Walthamstow (#13)

Unsurprisingly the people putting out the BSS press release are black men.

Re: Stella Creasy wins in Walthamstow (#14)

It could have happened that a BME candidate would have come through and won if the other less likely candidates had withdrawn and united behind her at an earlier stage. A bit of self sacrifice was called for.

Re: Stella Creasy wins in Walthamstow (#15)

Congratulations Stella. Neil Gerrard is an impressive, decent if understated man. I'm sure you'll be a fine successor.

Re: Stella Creasy wins in Walthamstow (#16)

There will undoubtedly be much analysis of the voting patterns in, and the result of, this selection. However - if the figures in post #6 are accurate - Stella was clearly in the lead from the start and retained that lead throughout subsequent counts.
 
In the final analysis, though (whatever your political stance), Stella has been chosen by democratic process to succeed Neil.
 
The task now is for the entire CLP to stand behind her and support her campaign to retain this seat. I know that the PM has ruled out a general election "in the near future" (my quotes!), but campaigning must start now.
 
The people of Walthamstow must be made aware that there is a new person seeking their vote, what she stands for and what she can (and will) do for them. We need also to expose the fragility of the oppositions' policies.
 
Oh, and my view of the result (in case anyone is interested!)?
 
I think Stella has the intelligence, experience, drive and plain guts to win the seat and make a real difference to the lives of everyone in the UK. She is also young enough to be able to represent the borough for a lifetime. I had full confidence in her winning!
 
My prediction for her future? How about the first woman Labour PM? Remember you read that here first!
 

Re: Stella Creasy wins in Walthamstow (#17)

I think I'm going to start a Private Eye style Order of the Brown Nose Award for Labourhome, and I think that comment would probably win.

Re: Stella Creasy wins in Walthamstow (#18)

Despite the offensiveness of that post, I will respond!
 
Did you consider my wholehearted support for John Smith as the leader of our party as "brown nosing"?
 
Or are you too young to remember?
 
Perhaps some contributors should reaearch the history of the Labour party before posting unnecessarily offensive comments.
 

Re: Stella Creasy wins in Walthamstow (#20)

Umm, I'm not sure who you are, so how I am I supposed to know, or even consider, your wholehearted support for John Smith? And what's that got to do with the comment I made?

And what does my post have to do with the history of the Labour Party? FYI, my good man/women, my family have been involved in the Labour Party since the days of the ILP, and books have been written about them.

The post wasn't intended to be offensive, it was intended to be a humourous dig at the over-the- top accolade you gave Stella Creasey. To be fair, you really were reaching for the colon there.

Lighten up! Just because you're in the Labour Party doesn't mean you have to take yourself so seriously. Some people in the Labour Party need a sense of humour transplant!

Re: Stella Creasy wins in Walthamstow (#19)

I have to say that I am disappointed with the result in Walthamstow, and certainly it did not reflect the quality of performances on the day. I say this as someone who had fully expected to have Stella Creasy as either my first or second preference. I found the style of her performance completely over the top, starting with her introduction of herself as Stella Creasy Walthamstow C - L -P. She spoke with a rather shrill voice and annoyingly chose to sidestep many of her questions. Despite this I recognise she has certain qualities, but question her capacity to unite the local party. Clearly from looking at the results she generates little love from Pye supporters.
Hence why I supported Farmida Bi, who came second despite ceasing to campaign in the last few weeks. As an outsider and importanly as a Muslim she had the potential to pull together the factions in Walthamstow. She impressed many neutrals in the audience, but for reasons I cannot fathom lacked support amongst Muslim members.

In respect of the much talked about Hina Ansari suffice to say that a 'job' was done on her by members of the audience, exposing her lack of any real record in the party. One went too far though when he asked what her favourite William Morris picture was, after she had mentioned her support for the local WM gallery campaign. As for Marie Pye she performed very competently though I was struck by the very gentle questions she was lobbed.

Re: Stella Creasy wins in Walthamstow (#21)

As a Walthamstow member at the other end of the Party spectrum from Stella Creasey, I would like to say that I think all members should now concentrate on making sure she wins the next election and wins it well. I'm not entirely sure how declaring oneself (a.) a CLP member, and (b.) 'disappointed' with the result, on a public web forum helps towards that end.

Re: Stella Creasy wins in Walthamstow (#22)

Only to add that, if the Party is to have any meaningful internal democracy and debate, it must be able to have hustings where members can speak freely without fearing that their questions are going to find their way onto the internet within a matter of days!

Re: Stella Creasy wins in Walthamstow (#23)

Is that Chatham House Rules? Its time to move on and get Stella elected to Parliament and not bicker about the selection.

Re: Stella Creasy wins in Walthamstow (#25)

I would have thought the idea that Labour Party members should support Labour parliamentary candidates would be fairly uncontroversial.

Slightly edited comments (#24)

Re: Stella Creasy wins in Walthamstow (#6)
by Andrea on Mon Nov 05, 2007 at 02:29:41 PM GMT I was told the various rounds result was:

  1. Creasy
  2. Bi
  3. Ansari
  4. Pye
  5. Johnson
  6. Dixon-Fyle
  7. Etienne

Re: Stella Creasy wins in Walthamstow (#7)
by rupahuq on Mon Nov 05, 2007 at 04:30:31 PM GMT

Black Socialist Society is putting out a press release declaring it to be a sad day given that it was a winnable BME seat and blaming BME types for not uniting around one BME candidate

Re: Stella Creasy wins in Walthamstow (#8)
by themanwithaplan on Mon Nov 05, 2007 at 04:40:09 PM GMT

I doubt that "uniting round one BME candidate" would have made a difference on this occasion.

    Walthamstow  is fairly parochial in it's political stance, and I believed from the start that a local candidate would win.

    Since no BAME  candidate actually lives in the constituency - despite one claiming an E17 address - the members cast their vote(s) accordingly.

Re: Stella Creasy wins in Walthamstow (#9)

by SimonHH on Mon Nov 05, 2007 at 04:42:50 PM GMT

I'm not entirely sure what a 'BME type' is. The phrase has a whiff of Alf Garnett about it.

     As it happens, most of Hina Ansari's supporters switched to Creasey, in preference to Bi, in the final round. This would suggest that ethnicity issues weren't the deciding issue. It wasn't so much as a case of 'people wanting a BME candidate not deciding which one to vote for' as 'wanting a BME candidate not being a particularly powerful consideration'.

    I find the voting behaviour difficult to interpret. Farmida Bi is much politically closer to Hina Ansari than to Stella Creasey. Neither of them is 'local'. So it is difficult to see why people who had cast higher preference votes  for Ansari would rate Creasey above Bi. My suspicion is that fifth and sixth preferences are chosen more arbitrarily than, say, first and second.

Re: Stella Creasy wins in Walthamstow (#11)

by alexhilton on Tue Nov 06, 2007 at 12:41:50 AM GMT

i think it's dangerous to start talking about "BME" seats for BME candidates - because white people would be disenfranchised in seats with large ethnic populations to our detriment. This would make it necessary to justify having Parmjit Dhanda in Gloucester for example. We should be about bringing people together, not creating dividing lines.

    I think there is a strong case for promoting more minority candidates, however, it would be divisive to put them all in inner cities when seats like Sedgefield and Easington are free to operate open shortlists and select white men.

Re: Stella Creasy wins in Walthamstow (#12)

by SimonHH on Tue Nov 06, 2007 at 12:11:43 PM GMT

Spot on.

Re: Stella Creasy wins in Walthamstow (#26)

I think Alex you are being slightly disingenuous and forgetting that we have to start from a premise that the section procedure significantly discriminates against men and arguably against BME candidates. The whole system is deeply flawed and needs to be radically changed. Walthamstow did not choose the best candidate it just chose the best woman. Whist this procedure remains, I see no harm in adding to the discrimination by having all BME shortlists, of course we never will, primarily because of the racist backlash within the party as well as the county as a whole.

Re: Stella Creasy wins in Walthamstow (#27)

I have made no secret to anyone who has asked me that were I a stow member, Dora would have been my first choice and stella my second, with pye third on the basis of trusted recommendations.

Politics aside, I happen to think both Dora and Stella (the only two I know well enough to comment on) are outstanding and I could name you 100 male MPs already in parliament who I think make a lesser contribution than I believe either of those women will achieve.

So you tell me that this process is discriminatory -  I tell you that the way we run them, open shortlists are discriminatory and always have been and very rarely has the best person won.

I'd like to know how Harriet Harman is doing on delivering her "four times more" ethnic minority pledge that got her elected deputy leader of the party.

Re: Stella Creasy wins in Walthamstow (#29)

I'd like to know that too.

Re: Stella Creasy wins in Walthamstow (#28)

Might it not be possible to oppose all-BME lists without being a 'racist'?

Re: Stella Creasy wins in Walthamstow (#30)

'Might it also be possible to oppse AWS without being a mysogonist?' Well the answer is a firm 'No'. archbold claims the system is biased against men and BME. Funny, I thought that's why we brought in AWS in the first place and why we should also consider All BME Shortlists ABMES. Alex is right, this AWS like all others before it, has produced an excellent PPS on par with any man.

Re: Stella Creasy wins in Walthamstow (#31)

Labour General Secretary Peter Watt told me there will be no BME shortlists unless the law is changed to accommodate them - which makes sense to me.

However, I think there is more than one way to skin this cat. Firstly, it might be worth getting Harriet to give a speech to every safe Labour seat before selection to see if they voluntarily start selecting BME candidates. Not sure we'll get the promised "four times more" that way - but it may lead to a few more.

The other thing that bothers me is that we are the only party taking this seriously. If there is going to be some form of state funding of political parties, I would like that funding docked proportionately according to how much each party fails to reflect the country - though this might be easier achived in terms of sex than ethnicity

Re: Stella Creasy wins in Walthamstow (#33)

I'm not opposed to AWS - not least because the human races divides neatly into men and women. I do not think the same is true of 'ethnic groups'.

Re: Stella Creasy wins in Walthamstow (#32)

There are incompetent woman in parliament as much as there are incompetent men. Luckily, they are few but still they exist. I often wonder if we would have had Blair under AWS or Brown or Benn or the many many other good men in parliament. I take issue with the allegation that I am a misogynist because I oppose AWS, if anything I am selfish as it has prevented  me from applying for seats. I grew up in Ladywood, which will be AWS, I lived in Ilford (AWS), my neighbouring constituency of Walthamstow was AWS.  I am forced to apply to areas where I am not local and not known and where they have often selected a safe pair of hands, especially in current climate. As a BME, I am forced to apply to areas where there are no BME communities where my colour sadly becomes an issue. I accept that we do have exceptions, Gloucester being an example, but that was in a very different climate. I have spent many years building a profile and the ability to become (I Hope) a good MP but will be prevented from doing so by my sex and yes in some areas my colour. I stood for parliament at the last election, following the inevitable defeat the Chair (behind closed doors) told local members that they should have chosen a white candidate! I am not a misogynist, I want more woman in parliament but I also want a fair chance of becoming an MP.