Gateshead's annual council meeting was held earlier this month and we saw at it the results of what could be a coup on the Labour benches. Deputy Leader Catherine Donovan was spotted sitting in the second row of the council chamber. This is the area for those who hold no office other than being on the cabinet. Her seat of the past 9 years on the front bench was occupied by Cllr Gary Haley. Well, isn't this a bit of a turn up for the books!?
Cllr Donovan is something of a leftwinger, more at home with socialism than capitalism. She was a fan of Jeremy Corbyn when he was Labour Leader. Cllr Haley on the other hand had previously posed as the bloke who it was safe for Conservatives to vote for in my ward of Whickham South and Sunniside. 20 years ago he took on the challenge - and lost spectacularly - of being Labour candidate in my ward. He claimed that Conservatives could safely vote for him to beat those pesky leftwing Liberals! And though his claim of being safe for Tories may well be true, not many followed his suggestion of voting for him. His campaign crashed and he came nowhere near winning.
Tory Boy then ran away to another Lib Dem ward where his persuasive powers worked as well as they did in my ward. After a few unsuccessful attempts, he went on another rubber chicken run. Tory Boy eventually washed up in a ward which was strongly Labour and was elected in a byelection.
We all know that Starmer is moving Labour to the right as he tries to out-Reform Reform. I just didn't expect Labour in Gateshead to be moving so enthusiastically in that direction as well!
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