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Original poster

The Labour Party leadership election

257 replies

Amethyst24 · 12/09/2015 12:09

Make leader, male deputy, male candidate for London Mayor. I fucking despair, I really do. I've been going on about this on social media and I can't seem to make myself shut up about it, it makes me so incredibly angry.

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YonicScrewdriver · 14/09/2015 14:08

"I also think Yvette Cooper, Stella Creasy and Liz Kendall are drowning in a mediocrity."

More mediocre than some of those picked, XX?

BreakingDad77 · 14/09/2015 13:54

We will probably see another tory female leader before labour or libems lol.

I just find it crazy that the people running must have so many yes people around them that they are so out of touch with the electorate and party that so wants anything but tory lite.

Was the supporting the Tory 12 billion tory cuts to show they are 'tough' or something?

TheXxed · 14/09/2015 13:39

I am surprised by how completely unbothered I am about the lack of women in his shadow cabinet.

I am not here for identity politics and I don't see the value of supporting women on principal. Theresa May and Margaret Thatcher are women (and possibly sociopaths), who have done women are huge amount damage.

I also think Yvette Cooper, Stella Creasy and Liz Kendall are drowning in a mediocrity.

nicknack9510 · 14/09/2015 12:16

Foreign and Home are slightly different, but Corby needs a shadow chancellor that backs him 100%, especially given the opinion of the rest of the PLP. Ultimately it was made necessary by the dissent already voiced.

He also needed to have one of the other leadership contenders in either Home or Foreign positions and that couldn't be one of the women, as they already ruled out serving. Now I am not commenting on if that was right or wrong, just that it happened.

So the choice was to remove Benn from the job, not because he isn't capable, but because he has a penis and I don't think that would have been the right call either.

I agree that the left haven't been very inclusive towards women and that needs to change, but that is very difficult to do within politics, as conservative women are looked on as "better" and more respectable than their left wing opponents and until this changes there will always be more strong right wing women than left in parliament.

All in all, I'm taking a wait and see attitude towards Corbyn. I'm inclined to believe that he can't get elected, but OTOH they also said that about Obama.

ALassUnparalleled · 14/09/2015 09:37

Blair gave Deputy PM to Prescott. No-one thought it was a serious job. It was a sop to the left wingers.

YonicScrewdriver · 14/09/2015 08:50

deputy PM etc are often roles given to a minister with another job as well

Original poster
Amethyst24 · 14/09/2015 08:25

This is the equivalent of saying, "Stop fussing about women on the board - can't you see our heads of marketing and HR are both women, as are LOADS of middle managers and almost all the PAs."

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YonicScrewdriver · 14/09/2015 08:20

No, it's not one of the three main roles - chancellor, foreign secretary and Home Secretary.

HamaTime · 14/09/2015 07:44

AE is shadow first sec of state, so will be doing PMQs when JC isn't there, apparently. Not sure if both Tom and Jerry need to be absent because TW was on breakfast yesterday talking about PMQs. Of course, maybe he thought he was 1st sec of state yesterday, with being deputy.

1st sec of state is a 'top job' in anyone's language, surely, it's the shadow of GO.

Original poster
Amethyst24 · 14/09/2015 07:41

Not being able to run a business because you lack the support of your colleagues after years of being a complete cunt to your boss is not passive aggression on their part IMO.

"Right, Justin," says the new CEO, "You'll be in charge of recruiting child labour, now the new board members have promoted me."

"Er, no thanks, I think I'll actually go back to working in the postroom and maybe think about looking for another job, because I'll need one when there's that massive round of redundancies in five years' time."

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LumpySpacedPrincess · 14/09/2015 06:48

It's up to them if they serve in the shadow cabinet or not but they have to remember that he had a huge mandate, this is what labour party members want. I hope he isn't scuppered because of passive aggressive behaviour.

ChristineDePisan · 14/09/2015 01:48

So the top five positions have all gone to white men. The Labour Party looks like a blue chip company where the key board members are all men except for the token women in the "caring" roles (aka HR aka health and education) Hmm

Original poster
Amethyst24 · 14/09/2015 00:27

Angela Eagle was happy to be in the shadow cabinet, so why not give her one of the three top jobs? She would have made a far more credible shadow chancellor than McDonnell. I agree though - and I think I said on p1 of this thread - he's struggling to find competent people who'll serve at all.

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YellowJerseyPan · 14/09/2015 00:21

Apart from the sex division, they are also all London MPs, excepting Burnham, I think.
Just read of other women who refused to serve in the Shad Cab. - Reynolds, Creagh, Mahmood.
I'm doubting it's based in his wish to break an undertaking re 50/50.

ALassUnparalleled · 14/09/2015 00:09

Amethyst I think he's struggling to get anyone.

Another woman who has said she can't continue as a minister is Angela Smith who was shadow Food and Farming Minister.

Original poster
Amethyst24 · 14/09/2015 00:03

The thing is, Corbyn couldn't control who got elected for Deputy Leader or the London Mayoral candidate. As I've said up thread, that says a huge amount about attitudes within the party, but can't be pinned on him. But if he wanted to send a message about equality, he would have made damn sure that at least one of those three senior shadow cabinet appointments was a woman. He didn't.

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YellowJerseyPan · 13/09/2015 23:57

Maybe JC is waiting til Mcd does admit that he does actually eat kittens then AE gets the job?

YellowJerseyPan · 13/09/2015 23:56

Curious about the Eagle/McDonnell thing too.

Kampeki · 13/09/2015 23:53

It's certainly looking a bit like an old boy's club. Shadow Chancellor, Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary all white men. :(

I don't like to see women appointed for the sake of it, but there are capable women he could have chosen. I don't think McDonnell was a good choice for Chancellor.

Original poster
Amethyst24 · 13/09/2015 23:16

Yonic - serving in the shadow cabinet does require voting with the leader/whip - you can't do the job if you don't. That's why Corbyn was never ever considered for a Cabinet post - he won't toe the line. So people who know that they can't agree with him on eg defense, can't offer to serve in his cabinet without either compromising themselves or losing their jobs PDQ.

Yellow - I'm a full party member (not for much longer though). We are allowed to read media other than the Mirror, you know. Anyone who's followed the leadership election in any detail would know this stuff was going to happen. My point isn't that Corbyn was a disastrous choice (although he is) but that an allegedly progressive party handing 6 out of 6 top jobs to men is beyond disgraceful.

Lass - I understand not, it was loyalty to McDonnell.

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ALassUnparalleled · 13/09/2015 23:09

I wonder if Angela Eagle was offered it and refused?

McDonnell as Shadow Chancellor is the cherry on the icing on the cake for the Tories.

YellowJerseyPan · 13/09/2015 23:06

to be fair though, you are the same poster who linked to a Daily Telegraph item, within a couple of hours of the announcement of the result, denouncing the result, promoting a Tory hatchet job, right at the start, and commenting something like 'depressing but true'? Are you actually a genuine Labour Party member, or supporter, as you don't appear to behave like either.

YonicScrewdriver · 13/09/2015 23:03

I think the outcome of the vote is a mistake.

However, it seems to be against labour's general method of running itself for so many people to refuse to serve under the democratically elected leader - who whilst he may not be very electable, doesn't actually eat babies or anything.

Original poster
Amethyst24 · 13/09/2015 22:58

Nope, male Shadow Chancellor too. Jez we can, eh?

Jesus fucking Christ.

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YellowJerseyPan · 13/09/2015 22:57

Rachel Reeve - another Cabinet contender ruled herself out yesterday. Bit tricky to search in a decreasing-sized pool, isn't it?

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