Monday 11 November 2019

Gwynedd Labour Councilor changes mind.

The Labour Party in Gwynedd are easily out numbered by Plaid in membership and activists and now it is possible that they may son not even have one councillor on the County Council
The BBC report that
Labour councillor says he is unhappy he has been blocked from fighting the party's top target seat in Wales at the general election.
Mary Griffiths-Clarke is standing down as the candidate for Arfon, citing ill-health and work commitments.
General election 2017: Arfon[11]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Plaid CymruHywel Williams11,51940.8Decrease 3.1
LabourMary Clarke11,42740.5Increase 10.2
ConservativePhilippa Parry4,61416.4Increase 3.2
Liberal DemocratCalum Davies6482.3Decrease 0.4
Majority920.3Decrease 13.4
Turnout28,20868.2Increase 1.9
Registered electors41,367
Plaid Cymru holdSwingDecrease 6.7

In 2017, she came within 92 votes of taking the seat from Plaid Cymru,
Sion Jones said Labour's policy of an all-women shortlist was "incredibly frustrating" for him, but the party defended its drive for "gender parity".
Mr Jones, from Caernarfon, fought the seat in the 2016 Welsh Assembly election where he increased Labour's share of the vote by 7.8% while still missing out to Plaid Cymru.
He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service he "couldn't rule out" standing as an independent after becoming frustrated by the party's insistence that only women would be eligible.
 "If a Labour MP stands down I can totally understand the rule where all-women shortlists are in place to increase the number of female Parliamentarians," he said."But here in Arfon we're in a situation where I'm the only Labour member of the council and I feel that the party is missing an opportunity here.
"I'd be ready to go out campaign tomorrow but it's incredibly frustrating, I have no doubt I could beat Hywel Williams.
"I've had many people ask if I was standing and I've tried to explain this to the party centrally on the need to open this to open selection.
"It will take time to raise the profile of someone who's not local, so it's an incredibly frustrating situation."
A spokesman for Welsh Labour said it had "a bold and progressive policy to achieve gender parity in the Welsh Parliamentary Labour Party".
"A key part of this approach is ensuring we have women candidates in seats with retiring Welsh Labour MPs and in seats that are within our grasp at the next election," the spokesman added.
"We're looking forward to winning in Arfon, and returning a record number of women MPs to Parliament."
The Lib Dems and Greens have decided not to contest the seat as part of a pact with Plaid Cymru.
Gary Gribben has been chosen to stand for the Brexit Party, while the Conservatives have yet to name their candidate.
Nominations close on 14 November.
 

Labour  have now selected Steffie Roberts so one wonders if Sion Jones will carry out his threat to stand as abn Independent. and Mr Jones seems to have had a change of mind.


With the former Liberal Democrat  candidate for Pontypridd  resigning  from that party  and standing as an Independent because in the Remaun pact the Lib Dems have given Plaid a clear run, we ned to ask the question if some candidates are more interested in their own status even would it is unlikely they would have won .

If Sion Jones had  stood down as an independent it would hav e taken  the number of Labour Councillors on Gwynedd to zero and in a similar way the Liberal Democrats have now no councillors on Rhondda Cynon Taf.

Is there a sense of male entitlement here>

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