Tom Gordon is new Lib Dem candidate for Batley and Spen
The BBC reports:
The party said its previous candidate, Jo Conchie, was unable to stand in the 1 July poll due to health issues.
Tom Gordon, a councillor in neighbouring Wakefield, has been selected to take her place.
The election was triggered after the previous MP, Labour’s Tracy Brabin, had to stand down when she was elected as West Yorkshire’s mayor.
Mr Gordon, who was born in West Yorkshire and is leader of Wakefield’s Liberal Democrat group, said he was “delighted” to have been selected.
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All progressive parties should stand aside in Batley by election to give Kim L a clear run. Otherwise the Tories will steal it and boost the standing of this atrocious right wing government
I completely agree with John Plummer. The LDs have no chance in this constituency. The idea that the few thousand meaningless votes that we attract in this by-election might contribute to Labour’s defeat is not conscionable, especially when faced by the current Tories. I know that Labour are not standing down in Amersham and Chesham but why can’t we set an example here, take the lead, show ourselves different from politics as usual.
Yes. We should definitely be standing down here. Layla Moran’s piece in the Guardian blog last Saturday (co-authored with Caroline Lucas (Grn) and Clive Lewis (Lab) should be followed up by the party leadership by asking Batley and Spen to stand aside.
I live in neighbouring Bradford South, a Lib Dem since my teenage years and have been a party agent here. But I shall go to Batley and campaign for Kim Leadbeater.
It’s so hard with the system we have to deal with. I do think that we need a progressive alliance of some kind. I don’t trust Labour to play the game. If only we had PR, one day perhaps .
I don’t know the situation that produced this last minute substitution. But I agree wholeheartedly with John, James and Simon. We need a Progressive Alliance, not a constitutional obligation always to stand (which, make no mistake, has been there with very good reason and served us well in most circumstances, not including the present).
We need to tweak that bit of the constitution, negotiate urgently with Labour and the Greens and get with the Conference Motion of John Shoesmith from Amber Valley 011. This proposes open primaries organised locally between the progressive parties for Parliamentary Candidates. We are hoping to get it accepted at East Mids regional conference this autumn. It’s urgent, because the next GE is likely to be a lot sooner than 2024. (The Tories are going to repeal the Fixed-Term Parliament Act and then pick a moment that suits them depending on post Brexit and possibly post-pandemic economics.)
My understanding is that the Labour Party constitution requires all seats to be fought.
It is not a case of helping none Tory candidates. They have not sufficient interest in anything other than first past the post to make any deal formal or informal possible.
It is the electors who decide and they are at best a fickle bunch who do not take kindly to stitch up deals. The problem for both Labour and Tory in Batley and Spen is the Galloway
factor, taking votes from both camps.