Blaydon survey

 

On Sunday we had an action day in Blaydon - or rather a half action day as in the afternoon many of us were attending Pride Picnic in the park in Saltwell. Having agreed to deliver a particular patch, I arrived to discover most of the houses were on a hill and were detached with long drives. Trust me to get that one!

Whinnies summer fair

 

The Whinnies Community Garden in Sunniside held their summer fair today. Lots of people there. Sadly, I didn't win anything on the raffle. Here's my video anyway.

Not going up in flames

I booked my hotel for Lib Dem conference in Bournemouth a few days ago. And then came the news that there had been a fire at the Bournemouth International Conference Centre. Had I just been hit by bad timing? Was the conference about to be cancelled? Did I need to try to stop my hotel payment?

The early indications from the bods who run conference was that any questions about whether conference was going ahead could not be answered. And then along came the news today that the fire occurred outside the building, rather than inside where the massive cost of a cup of tea and a sandwich was normally enough to cause smoke to be given off by me anyway.

So thankfully, it looks like conference will go ahead. I have 6 weeks left to read the papers.

The buffet is on!

I was at Sunniside Social Club last night to chair a meeting of the Sunniside History Society executive. Most of the business was about the AGM (which will be held in September) and about next year's speakers. Reports were agreed though one more is still to be written. The financial report showed we almost broke even. Almost but not quite. We had a deficit of £3.50. Last year we had a surplus of £0.50. Fortunately we run a tight ship and we have over £3,000 in the bank! The news that a donation has been offered to cover the cost of the Christmas buffet was greeted with general acclaim!

So far for next year we have 5 of the 12 speakers' slots filled. I will be doing two and my chosen subjects are "Flood" (about major floods over the millennia and how they impacted human society) and "Could Hitler have won?" Quite eclectic!

A night off from campaigning

Last night, instead of delivering Focus newsletters, Gateshead Lib Dems met up in the Tynesider bar/restaurant to eat, drink and be merry. Good to see some of our new candidates there as well. A great night had by all.

Another goat at the Whinnies Wanderers

 

Another week and another visit to the Whinnies Wanderers Parent and Toddler group in Sunniside where I take along a goat to be petted by the children. Yesterday it was the turn of Dandelion to make an appearance. I will be back again next Wednesday.

A surprise appearance by the Chancellor

 

I was rather surprised by a photo that popped up on my Facebook feed recently. The Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves was pictured with the North East Mayor Kim McGuinness and Newcastle MP Catherine McKinnell walking along a street in South Jesmond where a council by-election to Newcastle Council is currently being held.

The surprise is not that the Mayor and the MP are out campaigning in Newcastle. They are after all local elected representatives. The surprise is that the Chancellor of the Exchequer has been shipped in to give a helping hand to a Labour candidate in a council by-election. So Labour now need cabinet members to shore up their local vote!

Labour are in an appalling mess in Newcastle. They have inflicted splits, walkouts and implosions on their own group. As a result they have now lost overall control of the Council and operate as a minority administration.

Whether or not the appearance of Rachel Reeves on the streets of South Jesmond will assist Labour's by-election campaign is the big unknown. There was a poll out today from Sky News that showed she has the lowest approval rating of any leading Labour member. We wait to see if bringing in the most unpopular Labour cabinet member to help shore up a Labour campaign to a council where Labour have self-detonated is a winning strategy.

We will know on 14th August.

Another weekend, another action day

 

Yesterday it was the turn of Pelaw, Heworth and Bill Quay to host a Lib Dem action day in Gateshead. 16 members turned up including some who have recently been approved as candidates and will be standing for the first time in the local elections next year. The aim of the day was to deliver the latest Focus. Most were done by lunchtime. Thanks to chairman Matt for providing lunch.

Ewe, you and your - the chaotic launch of the Corbyn Party

 

The Corbyn Party was launched last week. I say "Corbyn Party" because no one has actually given the new "party" a name. "It's Your Party" Corbyn told the media as he relived the old days of being a party leader. It could so easily accidentally be called the "You Party" or the "Ewe Party", hence the inclusion above of a photo of my sheep waiting to be sheared in May.

The absence of a name and the lack of any binding principles simply added to the impression that the "launch" was chaotic and thrown together at the last minute. Corbyn's claim of hundreds of thousands joining the Ewe Party turns out to be people applying via the Ewe Party website to received their newsletter. 

Think back to 2015-19 when many Labour MPs spent their time trying to kick Corbyn out of the Labour leadership. Labour had a surge in membership. Don't get me wrong: members, supporters and volunteers are essential to the future of any political party. However I had too many conversation with Labour members in Gateshead to be convinced that this surge of new members, brought in by Corbyn, were largely of no use to Labour whatsoever. 

The vast majority of this army of Corbynites were nothing more than leftwing moaners whose time was spent attacking Blair (who had given up the leadership a decade earlier) and Labour, not the Tories. This army of armchair class warriors weren't out delivering Labour leaflets or knocking on doors. They were at home on their ipads and laptops blaming everything wrong on Blair.

So the Ewe Party would be an ideal home for such people. They can follow the Corbyn Cult without any fear they will be thrown out of their party. And, of course, they can help Reform to win seats at the general election due in 2029 under this ludicrous first-past-the-post vosting system.