Hoey to work for Boris?

oratorhunt Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 10:42:01 AM GMT Print-friendly version Facebook

BBC reporting that Kate Hoey has agreed to work for Bozo Johnson, in a non-exec capacity on the Olympics:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7372823.stm





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Hoey to work for Boris? | 28 comments (28 topical)

Re: Hoey to work for Boris? (#1)

by rwendland on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 11:19:20 AM GMT

The Times has the story as well, saying she would be "non-executive Director advising Mr Johnson on sport and the Olympics". Johnson said:

"I am delighted to announce that Kate Hoey will join me in my administration if I win on May 1. She and I agree that there is much more that can be done to promote sport and to develop sporting facilities across London."

They also give this Hoey quote:

Ms Hoey said that while she was "in theory'' backing Mr Livingstone, "in practice I actually do think that there is a debate to be had about how London is being governed and about the role of the Mayor and about just how the Mayor's functions are working, because I think for a lot of people there's a feeling that the Mayor perhaps is a kind of elected dictator'.'

Does that tip Hoey into expulsion territory?


Re: Hoey to work for Boris? (#2)

by oratorhunt on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 11:25:52 AM GMT

It's not that I would necessarily object in principle to her taking up such a position.  But to release the news now is clearly intended to boost the Tory campaign and undermine Johnson.  Saying that you are only backing the Labour candidate "in theory" and then in practice doing everything you can to boost a rival candidate (on top of other instances) should surely pose the question of the withdrawal of the whip?


Ken responds (#3)

by rwendland on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 11:34:49 AM GMT

Ken has a good riposte though:

"But I'm surprised he's going to take her advice on sport because I think the reason Tony Blair sacked her at the end of his first term, was because she'd been involved in all the fiasco over Wembley.

"But I suppose she knows more about it than Boris does."


Re: Hoey to work for Boris? (#4)

by nickc on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 11:40:59 AM GMT

Having taken on Bercow and Digby Jones at national level it will be hard for Brown to deal harshly with Hoey. In any case he probably no longer has the authority to do so.

Brixton Base is(was?) in her constituency I think. This may have coloured her attitude to Ken and in particular his ill-advised defence of Lee Jasper.


Re: Hoey to work for Boris? (#6)

by lastword on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 11:47:37 AM GMT

Good riddance.  There are a number of excellent local Labour people who live in Vauxhall the local party could select as the next prospective parliamentary Labour candidate in the next general election.  Here are just a few of the people who live there who I think would all make an excellent MP for Vauxhall: Steve Reed, Val Shawcross, Kingsley Abrams, Stephen Beer, Pav Akthar, Gavin Hayes, as well as numerous excellent local Lambeth councillors and candidates who missed out in Streatham, such as Cathy Ashley and Dave Malley.  If I were them I'd be gearing up for the selection already! 


[ Parent ]

Re: Hoey to work for Boris? (#5)

by simonmagnus on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 11:46:54 AM GMT

If Doris Johnson does win then he is welcome to her,good ridance i say..the last time she held a sports brief she was involved in the huge wembley fiasco and was rightly sacked for being useless,maybe her costituents will see that she is a very coniving woman who is out for herself and not for our party,she writes for a tory paper,is part of a tory pressure group (countryside alliance) and campained against the 2012 olympics and the .e.u.treaty so she certainly doesn't have the veiws of a labour member so why does she still have the whip,geoff hoon should start making preperations to remove the whip now even if ken does win again.


Re: Hoey to work for Boris? (#12)

by e10rifles on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 12:38:38 PM GMT

I campaigned against the 2012 olympics and the EU treaty, as did plenty of other Labour members I know.

However, since joining the party I have never supported any candidate against Labour. For that in particular she should be expelled.


[ Parent ]

Re: Hoey to work for Boris? (#7)

by Just Labour on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 12:01:38 PM GMT

Hoey has hardly endeared herself to many labour activists, especially those of us in London involved in a hand-to-hand battle to re-elect Ken. However, she hasn't done anything close to warranting removal of the whip. Her timing on this "job offer" has been poor and she should certainly be spoken to about that - she could simply have accepted Johnson's offer but on the condition it was only announced after Thursday if he won.

The point has been made earlier: having offered roles to Bercow (Con MP) and Matthew Taylor (LD MP) how can we sack Hoey?

Simon magnus, you might want to reconsider the credibility of some of the justifications you put forward in support of Hoon acting - writing for Tory papers? Well, pretty much the entire cabinet has done that before.

Kate Hoey's status as a Labour MP should be a matter for the members of Vauxhall CLP.


Re: Hoey to work for Boris? (#28)

by SimonHH on Fri May 02, 2008 at 03:47:18 PM GMT

I disagree. Campaigning for a non-Labour candidate is an expellable offence. I think Hoey is perilously close to having committed this, and the issue should be considered by the NEC.


[ Parent ]

Re: Hoey to work for Boris? (#8)

by simonmagnus on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 12:18:53 PM GMT

I'm sorry to say just labour that your judgement is way off,you say it was poor timing when anybody who has an ounce of common sense knows this is about kicking ken and that to me is just plain low,she knew damned well what she was doing and i stand by what i said in my earlier post..she should have the whip removed, as for brown taking other parties on board in the "big tent" then i am against that sort of shallow posturing too,i think brown should get rid of anybody who doesn't believe in the labour cause,i would be suprised if there isn't a post election cull.


Re: Hoey to work for Boris? (#11)

by nickc on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 12:33:32 PM GMT

But given that we did take on Bercow, Mercer et al we can hardly dump Hoey for doing the same thing. I assume this was leaked by the Johnson camp without her knowledge - she had probably assumed it would not be announced at all unless Boris won. Naive on her part perhaps but there you go!


[ Parent ]

Re: Hoey to work for Boris? (#9)

by mwell on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 12:19:57 PM GMT

Kate's statement.

The key part of the Boris Johnson statement – ie that I will be the first member of his administration – is wrong.  I have simply agreed to act in a similar position, for example to Conservative MPs John Bercow and Patrick Mercer – in that I have said that I will advise on a non-partisan basis in respect of my lifetime commitment to bringing sport to the people of London.

 

This is not an endorsement of Boris Johnson for Mayor. I will be voting for my party and Labour candidates on Thursday.

 

I am a Labour MP and I am standing for Labour at the next election.. I support the Labour Government. I have and shall continue actively to campaign for Labour in these elections, not least for Val Shawcross, my local GLA member.  


Re: Hoey to work for Boris? (#10)

by lastword on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 12:28:37 PM GMT

Val Shawcross would make a much better Labour MP
 for Vauxhall!


[ Parent ]

Re: Hoey to work for Boris? (#13)

by DavidPrescott on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 01:07:13 PM GMT

I'm sorry but the difference between Bercow and Taylor is that their appointments were not announced in the white heat of an election that's too close to call, days before the poll.

So whilst joining 'an administration of all the talents' might be a convenient fig leaf for Hoey, timing is everything here. It's just not credible.

Although she claims to be backing the Labour candidates, she knew exactly how this announcement was going to be perceived.

This is nothing but contemptuous disloyalty. But what do you expect from someone who once said: "You find a more socially inclusive group of people out with the Thurlow Hunt than on our backbenches."

She's now obviously equally at home with the Bullingdon Club.

As Ken said, she's been a 'semi-detached member of the Labour Party for many years.'

I just hope Vauxhall CLP will now see fit to condemn Hoey and detach this member for good.



 


Re: Hoey to work for Boris? (#14)

by madasafish on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 01:33:44 PM GMT

Gordon Brown writes for the Telegraph.
Ken Livingstone stated his best achievement was grinding LAbour into the dust when he became Mayor first time.
 

Some of you people should get a live and see the real world...  politics is the art of the possible. Which is how Labour came to power.

After all Labour were unelectable until Militant were outed and Scargill defeated.


Re: Hoey to work for Boris? (#16)

by oratorhunt on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 02:37:01 PM GMT

And Kate has made it more "possible" that a Tory candidate will unseat an excellent sitting Labour mayor.  If Labour lefts claimed to support the official party candidates "in theory" (ie not in practice) they would be threatened with de-selections.  Why the double standard for obvious flirting with the Tories?  This is not about taking up an official post outside party structures - it IS about trying to sabotage Labour's chances before a vital set of elections.


[ Parent ]

Re: Hoey to work for Boris? (#24)

by e10rifles on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 04:30:05 PM GMT

You really are mad, aren't you?


[ Parent ]

Re: Hoey to work for Boris? (#15)

by Just Labour on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 02:29:46 PM GMT

Strong words from hotheads, but let's return to the issue: her actions are ill advised, ill timed and won't find much support across the party and movement. But she has not breached party rules and how many fewer elected members would we have if poor judgement was an expulsion offence?

I agree that Val Shawcross would probably make a better Labour MP for Vauxhall - but that's a matter for the CLP, who have, after all, reselected her on numerous occasions.


Re: Hoey to work for Boris? (#17)

by swatantra on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 02:46:21 PM GMT

No doubt she'd be a paid advisor, moonlighting on her Westminster responsibilities. Its about time Kate got her marching orders.


[ Parent ]

Re: Hoey to work for Boris? (#18)

by lambethlife on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 02:55:25 PM GMT

Indeed we unanimously reselected Hoey last year - there is a certain resigned "Kate is Kate" acceptance that Hoey does not make it easy for us in Vauxhall which can make it very frustrating when campaigning on a Lambeth borough level.

She does get questioned quite strongly and criticised on some of her stances at Vauxhall GC meetings.

Sometimes I wonder though if this may be Hoey's last Parliament? She is 61 or so and will have been in Parliament 20 years next year and seems to be accumulating lots of outside interests - maybe she intends to stand down but at a time of her own choosing and maybe to prevent the local party from tearing itself apart in a selection battle for what must be one of the safest seats in London if not the whole country

(dont read anything particularly into that last paragraph - it is pure speculation based on personal opinion rather than established fact!)

I dont think Shawcross  would necessarily want to go from being a GLA member where she has power and prominence in London matters to being a backbench MP in a (hopefully not) Labour opposition or weak Labour administration.



[ Parent ]

Re: Hoey to work for Boris? (#19)

by lastword on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 03:13:13 PM GMT

Are you kidding?  Val Shawcross was the leading female candidate for Streatham before she was wrestled away from the contest because of the GLA election.  I think she's "owed" quite frankly.


[ Parent ]

Re: Hoey to work for Boris? (#20)

by lambethlife on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 03:21:36 PM GMT

According to the Times Brown has given his blessing to Hoey's actions - http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article3839083.ece

 

Maybe Shawcross would put herself forward for Vauxhall but there is a danger that she would be overlooked in the selection.

 
There would certainly be calls for a black candidate as the seat includes Brixton, it would probably also attract heavy hitters as it is very desirable - less than 10 minutes journey from the House of Commons, virtually no chance of being defeated etc etc


[ Parent ]

Re: Hoey to work for Boris? (#21)

by oratorhunt on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 03:28:10 PM GMT

"This is not an endorsement of Boris Johnson for Mayor. I will be voting for my party and Labour candidates on Thursday."

Weasel words - she doesn't need to have explicitly endorsed Boris to have effectively undermined Ken.


[ Parent ]

Re: Hoey to work for Boris? (#22)

by lastword on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 03:30:33 PM GMT

One selection it will be v interesting to observe then....


[ Parent ]

Re: Hoey to work for Boris? (#23)

by simonmagnus on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 03:43:11 PM GMT

The Labour rule book states: “Any party member of the party who joins or supports a political organisation other than the Labour Party ... or who supports any candidate who stands against an official Labour candidate or who publicly declares their intention to do so will be automatically ineligible to remain a member.”


Re: Hoey to work for Boris? (#25)

by pbyrne on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 07:36:37 PM GMT

There are some really bitchy comments on this blog which are unworthy of members of our great party.

Not all of us are entirely happy with the Party Line that has been Handed Down from on High either from the Mayor's Office or Victoria/Downing Street. The Labour party has always prided itself as being able to accommodate a wide variety of opinion, and Kate Hoey has made it clear that she will only be acting as an advisor on sport. This does not seem to breach anything that I can see in the Party Rules.

The great majority of her constituents, including many who would not otherwise vote Labour, support her, and it is probable that, if any attempt were made to deselect her, Vauxhall would cease to be a safe Labour seat. In local government elections Labour candidates find it hard to hold their own against Liberal Democrat contenders, and Caroline Pidgeon, with her strong showing in the last GLA election (which is likely improve in this one would surely be a strong contender for this seat. The Tory vote is not a danger here. 


Re: Hoey to work for Boris? (#26)

by Mike40 on Tue Apr 29, 2008 at 07:44:15 PM GMT

Hoey is disgusting individual, she went to cout to defend Otis Ferry and other thugs. What an insult to Labour members currently pounding the streets for Ken that she does this two days before the elections.


Re: Hoey to work for Boris? (#27)

by rwendland on Wed Apr 30, 2008 at 05:12:40 PM GMT

Paul Flynn has a big blast against Hoey, but he says "There is reluctance in Labour circles to give her the satisfaction of martyrdom. She dreams of the attention. Think of the pained media interviews when she will present herself as the spurned heroine."

A forced retirement at the next election by her CLP might cause the least pain.


Hoey to work for Boris? | 28 comments (28 topical)