Absence increased vote

 

Newport West celebrates..

 

 

The local press has no interest or understanding about politics. We are forced to blow our own trumpet. This was not the biggest of the six general election majorities that Labour has had in Newport West but it was our greatest victory.  This is revealed in the tiny swing against Labour compared with all our neigbouring constituencies. The Tories would have clinched victory with a 7.8% swing. It was only 3.1%.

 

Cardiff West and Caerphilly suffered swings that were double that. If we had the swings in other neighbours Newport West would now be Tory.  In Torfaen it was 8.2%, Islwyn 9.1%, Newport East 8.3% and Merthyr 17%.

The Labour vote INCREASED since 2005 by 350. A correspondent has calculated that it was the biggest increase in any Labour seat in Wales.  I have not checked. It’s difficult to analyse why our result was one of the best in Wales. For the first time in 100 years the Newport West majority was bigger than the Pontypridd one.

 

A hundred guests enjoyed a magnificent buffet prepared by Chef Richard Flinn (no relation) that included exotic finger foods of his creation. Richard was the chef at the Waterloo. He is now running his own business. He is one of the undiscovered joys of Newport life. The flair and originality of his work will guarantee him a great future. There was universal delight and enthusiasm for the buffet he had prepared.

 

Why did we do so well? The campaign was homegrown and used none of the materials from London or Cardiff.  It aimed to maximize the advantage of 38 years of casework. I have represented parts of Newport since 1972. A key slogan was ‘Everyone know someone who has been helped by Paul Flynn. Capitalizing on the London origins of the Tory we used the slogan, ‘Paul Flynn From Newport For Newport.’ The work from our volunteers in canvassing and deliveries was magnificent. far more than in any of the previous six elections. We were also smarter in dropping traditional work that does not win votes and concentrating on the essentials. Last night was a big 'Thank You' to our marvellous members.

 

Luckily I have some new flattering photographs that were taken by a national newspaper for the serialistion of my last book. The Tories were exploiting my age.  The pictures counteracted that. There was no long unreadable spiel in our leaflets. I concentrated on brief bullet points about my campaigns and flattering quotes about my parliamentary work.

 

Our analysis of the result shows an extraordinary picture. We did not get the big share of votes in our traditional areas of support. Many stayed away or strayed into other parties. The bulk of my votes were from the prosperous, middle-class leafy suburbs. Without the support of previous Tory voters I would have lost. There is a sharp lesson for our party here that explains the huge losses in neighbouring seats.  It the working class who have become dis-illusioned. Their trust in us must be regained.

 

One alternative explanation to the great result was the absence of the candidate. I was stuck in Geneva marooned by the volcanic ash for nearly a week during the campaign. It was frustrating for me but, apparently, liberating for my agent and campaign team. Nobody outside of the Labour Party noticed or complained. Absence makes the voters grow fonder. Next time, I will arranged for my `annual holidays to be taken during the campaign. 

Comments

[HuwOS]

dave, the government has a majority, the opposition cannot stop them from doing anything.
As the loyal opposition however it is their job to scrutinise and question.
At times this can be done on a purely obstructionist basis which is a bit of a pain but it is nonetheless important that the government be checked on and held accountable.
As you saw when the tories, stupidly and pig-headedly with faux patriotism, supported the New Labour government in breaking international law to go to war with Iraq, dire results can happen when the opposition chooses not to oppose.
As Paul often points out, sufficient labour MPs rebelled against the government on that occasion that if the tories had also voted against the war as Plaid, the SNP and the LibDems did, then the government would not have been able to claim the support of the house in its actions and Britain might not now have the blood of tens and hundreds of thousands of men, women and children on its hands.
If the proper opposition and proper scrutiny of the digital economy bill had happened, we might not now have a set of laws on our statute books, written by and for the entertainment industry and against the average citizen.
Government's job is to govern, the oppositions job is to oppose, preferably only where such opposition is warranted but there are always differences of opinion even where there is broad agreement and the place for those differences to be brought out and debated is, at the very least, in parliament.

[Paul Flynn]

Your contributions Dave have been wildly anti-Labour and anti the previous Government. You forecast my demise and the obliteration of the Labour Party. You were hopelessly wrong twice.
Overnight you have become a Government groupie and loyalist. Why should we believe you now? You did not answer my question on your forecast that Labour would be wiped out in Newport West? Again, why were you so wrong?

[dave]

the election is over and now its time to do the right thing for our country.

i hope you will be actually working for your constituants and the country.

the last thing we need is a labour party stopping practical and affective changes that will help the country and get us out of this mess.

it is not a time for political point scoring but a time when we need all politicians working for the country and not just for their party.

the people will be watching closer than ever when key votes are made and if labour is seen to jepordise the country moving forward they wont forgive them.

politicians will be seen as traitors if they vote just to please their party rather than voting for something they know will benefit the country.