A Corbynite for Ogmore By-election? Probably not.

 Corbynite sounds like a Sci-Fi explosive. but there you go.

The Blog "Left Foot"Forward  do not seem to be big Fans of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Why for example did they carry a Telegraph claim that Jeremy Corbyn’s office wants to see the leader’s political secretary Katy Clark as the candidate in the forth coming Ogmore  by-election when  MP  Irranca-Davies formally steps down in order to fight for a seat in the Welsh Assembly.

 According to the Telegraph, Jeremy Corbyn’s office wants to see the leader’s political secretary Katy Clark as the candidate in the by-election when Mr Irranca-Davies formally steps down.

Last year Clark, one of the better Scottish Labour MPs (not saying much though)  who is  also a director of the campaign group Momentum, lost her Scottish seat of Ayrshire North and Arran following the SNP avalanche that engulfed Labour last May.
Speaking to the Telegraph, one former Labour minister said:

“People in Wales will be furious if they try to stitch it up for Katy or someone like Chris Williamson.
“All the Welsh MPs are very worried about this because you need a strong local candidate with real ties to the area for a by-election nowadays.”

A former Labour shadow minister went further, arguing:

“The great fear we have is that if leadership tries to impose a candidate then it will make the same mistake that we have seen in the past, where the imposition of a candidate against the wishes of the local party has led to us losing a seat.
“This is a very serious issue and a test for the leadership indeed in terms of its views of democracy and of course its strategic approach.”

The paper quotes what it describes as a ‘senior Welsh Labour figure’ as having said:

“I would be very surprised if the Ogmore constituency wanted somebody hoisted on them by the leader’s office and certainly not somebody from outside of Wales.
“I know there are some very strong candidates potentially putting themselves forward from across Wales.”

According to today Wasting Mule Senior Labour sources have strongly denied a suggestion that  a Corbyn  backer wil be imposed on Ogmore


 The source told the Mule:

 “I think this is all mixed up with the continuing turmoil in the party over Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, with some wanting to stick the boot into Jeremy. What has given the story legs is that there has been a delay in selecting a new candidate, despite people from the constituency making it clear immediately after Huw’s selection for the Assembly seat on December 6 that the process should get under way immediately.”
 Ogmore is not going to be pushed around and agree to accept someone simply because they are a senior member of Jeremy Corbyn’s team.
 There are some very high calibre candidates seeking the nomination, including people who make a major contribution to Welsh public life. Local party members deserve to be treated with respect and allowed to make their choice from an exceptional shortlist.”
According to the source, it is thought unlikely that there will be an all-women shortlist. There are, however, likely to be some high quality female contenders.

 So we can only wonder if there was ever any truth in the story.  after all Welsh constituencies seemed fair game for imposed candidates during the Blair years .

For those of us who do not support Labour believing that Corbyn is only a blip on its Right Wing  drift and Left or Right an Unionist is still an Unionist but are also on the left it would be hypocritical to not attack the imposition of a Candidate who might share some of our beliefs in the way we did to the appalling Blarite's we are stuck with.

But we can wonder why credibility was given by a supposed Left wing Blog to a piece in a paper like the  Telegraph who are intent on smearing Corbyn?