Parliamentary Election Hustings

[michael]

You can register at https://election.38degrees.org.uk/event ... 1430298088
but you should just be able to turn up.

[wrightie]

Noticed one absence from the list of candidates, sigh.

[Maria]

Oh - thanks Admin and thanks Michael, didn't see the reply!

[leenewham]

It appears this is who is going:
Tom Chance (Green)
Alex Feakes (Liberal Democrat)
Russell Jackson (Conservative Party)
David Hansom (Independent)
Martin Powell-Davies (TUSC)
Gary Harding (UK Independence Party)
George Whale (Liberty Great Britain)

Look who is missing. Our MP, Jim Dowd.
He of the safe seat who pretty well knows he will be elected no matter what he does.

Perhaps he would come if we said he could be photographed holding a sign:
http://www.jimdowd.org.uk/news.html

This is his record:
Has spoken in 9 debates in the last year — well below average amongst MPs.
Has received answers to 13 written questions in the last year — average amongst MPs.
Replied within 2 or 3 weeks to a low number of messages sent via WriteToThem.com during 2008, according to constituents.
Has voted in 69.49% of votes in this Parliament with this affiliation — below average amongst MPs. (From Public Whip)
People have made 1 annotation on this MP’s speeches — below average amongst MPs.
This MP's speeches, in Hansard, are readable by an average 19–20 year old, going by the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level score.
Has used three-word alliterative phrases (e.g. "she sells seashells") 169 times in debates — below average amongst MPs.

He believes in Proportional Representation according to the BBC back (in 2001). When he had the chance to vote on it, he voted neither here nor there in one and didn't bother to vote in another vote.

I think Labour should either select another candidate, or stick a rocket up his backside.

And 38 degrees should empty seat him…with a bottle of Henderson's Sauce.

[stuart]

I have just emailed Jim@JimDowd.org.uk telling him that this household will not be voting for any candidate who refuses to face his constituents (and copying our local councillors). Hope this may encourage him, or get others to encourage him, to re-consider his decision by tonight.

A few more might not do any harm.

Stuart

[iandavenport]

I see this event is publicised on the 38 degrees website as "Meet Your Next MP " - if Mr Dowd doesn't turn up , should we assume that he doesn't want the job?

[Maria]

That really is beneath contempt!

Perhaps he would come, rather, if we would find a way of telling him we will no longer be prepared to vote for him regarding of the consequences. And to think I have already sent my paper with a stupid X against this undeserving, petulant, lazy, and downright insulting person....

They say people get the governments they deserve; if he is elected we have deserved him, if he's not then he deserves all the scorn coming to him. But unfortunately that saying, which I first heard in Portugal, does not take in consideration all of those who have done nothing to deserve what we seem to be facing, do not feel confident enough to vote, and may well have to brace themselves for another 5 years of despicable governance and priorities.

[somerandombloke]

I have just emailed Jim@JimDowd.org.uk telling him that this household will not be voting for any candidate who refuses to face his constituents (and copying our local councillors). Hope this may encourage him, or get others to encourage him, to re-consider his decision by tonight.

A few more might not do any harm.

Stuart

Done.

[wrightie]

I have just emailed Jim@JimDowd.org.uk telling him that this household will not be voting for any candidate who refuses to face his constituents (and copying our local councillors). Hope this may encourage him, or get others to encourage him, to re-consider his decision by tonight.

A few more might not do any harm.

Stuart

Done...

[Maria]

Done.

[Psi]

It appears this is who is going:

And 38 degrees should empty seat him…with a bottle of Henderson's Sauce.

I believe the best options for an empty seat are:
Chocolate teapot (hard to find at short notice);
A block of lard;
a stuffed chicken.

Any of these would do.

Is someone going to record the event and post it to YouTube so those who can't attend can see the candidates?

[stuart]

I have just emailed Jim@JimDowd.org.uk telling him that this household will not be voting for any candidate who refuses to face his constituents (and copying our local councillors). Hope this may encourage him, or get others to encourage him, to re-consider his decision by tonight.

I have had a reply. The gist of which is 'No'.
I have emailed back more reasons why he should reconsider. It's never too late. 'U'-turns can be a life/career saver!

Stuart

[somerandombloke]

I have just emailed Jim@JimDowd.org.uk telling him that this household will not be voting for any candidate who refuses to face his constituents (and copying our local councillors). Hope this may encourage him, or get others to encourage him, to re-consider his decision by tonight.

A few more might not do any harm.

Stuart

Done.

Ive had a reply back saying he wont anser any questions if i dont give him my name address postcode cos he wants proof Im a voter. How very democratic. Still at least i know now who I aint gonna be votin for.

[wrightie]

Ive had a reply back saying he wont anser any questions if i dont give him my name address postcode cos he wants proof Im a voter. How very democratic. Still at least i know now who I aint gonna be votin for.

Had the same reply and supplied details. Read his response, and took my time formulating a reply expressing my disappointment and reminding him that his appearance would be primarily to engage with his constituents. I doubt it'll change anything, but who knows, stranger things have happened.

[Rachael]

What reason does he give for not attending?

[squashst]

"I've got a coppered-bottom majority under first past the post, therefore I don't need to bother". There, I've saved Jim an email reply.

[Maria]

Here is the most relevant part of his reply (only edited out the least important bits as it wld become too wordy and they were of no relevance):

I have never shared a platform with any National Front, National Party or British National Party representative. Liberty GB are just the latest manifestation of this particular strain of political activity and you only need to see their “Ten Point Plan” to confirm this. Community Organisations are, of course, free to invite whomsoever they wish to attend any particular meeting and I’m not suggesting otherwise. However, there exists a parallel freedom for any individual to judge the circumstances surrounding such an invitation and to decide whether to accept. Whilst I consulted various, highly experienced and senior members of the local Labour Party of whom the vast majority supported my view, the decision to decline is mine and mine alone.


Having held elected public office for over 40 years in Lewisham (and now Penge) I’ve also tried to assess the feelings of the members of the very mixed community to which the area is home, many of whom have supported me repeatedly over those years. This is the 8th consecutive General Election in which I have been a Labour candidate (a further 5 occasions for Lewisham Council) and this is the first time that this difficulty has arisen. People are free to disagree with my decision and whilst I hope that I will not lose support as a consequence, if that does happen then I will live with it. In my long experience of politics all anyone can do, ultimately, is what they believe to be right and this I have done.

Jim Dowd - Former MP and Labour

Candidate Lewisham West and Penge

April 2015

[sparticus]

I have voted Labour in every general election since 1970 and I have been a member of the Labour Party in previous residence. I desperately want to see the back of this cruel, dishonest and partisan bunch of incompetents, the worst and most right-wing government since the war. But I have decided, after much soul-searching, that I won't vote for Jim Dowd and for the first time in my life I will cast my vote elsewhere, probably voting for the Greens. If someone could persuade me that not voting for Dowd might affect the outcome of the election then I guess I'll hold my nose and vote for him but I haven't heard a convincing argument yet.

His poor record in parliament, his physical manhandling of Bob Marshal Andrews in the lobby because he had the temerity to vote against a government terrorism bill on principle, his slavish voting record when Labour were in power including his support for the Iraq war, his refusal to condem Purelake over the Greyhound debacle and his oafish behaviour, his sense of entitlement and contemptuous behaviour towards his constituents, all mean that I simply cannot bring myself to support him. It's telling, I think, that there are very few Labour posters around in Lewisham West and Penge, compared with the other two Lewisham constituencies, and I suspect that there are many more out there that share the views on this forum.

I was a member of the Labour Party in Islington Central when Islington North constituency party got rid of the corrupt and oafish Micheal O'Halloran and selected Jeremy Corbyn to stand, who of course has now represented the constituency for years. That was achieved by activists in the party organising to get rid of a unpopular MP. Ultimately, the only way to get rid of Dowd is for enough people, like me, who support the Labour Party to join and force a deselection. Silly me, I have tried to join the local Labour Party online on three occasions in the last couple of years. Initially because as I had recently retired I decided it would be good to become active in local politics again. No response. I spoke to two of the local councillors, one when being canvassed for the last local elections, and another at a residents meeting, and was assured on both occasions that someone would be in touch, nothing happened. If Labour want to turn supporters into members and members into activists they are going about it in a very strange way indeed.

[Psi]

Here is the most relevant part of his reply (only edited out the least important bits as it wld become too wordy and they were of no relevance):

I have never shared a platform with any National Front, National Party or British National Party representative. Liberty GB are just the latest manifestation of this particular strain of political activity and you only need to see their “Ten Point Plan” to confirm this. Community Organisations are, of course, free to invite whomsoever they wish to attend any particular meeting and I’m not suggesting otherwise. However, there exists a parallel freedom for any individual to judge the circumstances surrounding such an invitation and to decide whether to accept. Whilst I consulted various, highly experienced and senior members of the local Labour Party of whom the vast majority supported my view, the decision to decline is mine and mine alone.


Having held elected public office for over 40 years in Lewisham (and now Penge) I’ve also tried to assess the feelings of the members of the very mixed community to which the area is home, many of whom have supported me repeatedly over those years. This is the 8th consecutive General Election in which I have been a Labour candidate (a further 5 occasions for Lewisham Council) and this is the first time that this difficulty has arisen. People are free to disagree with my decision and whilst I hope that I will not lose support as a consequence, if that does happen then I will live with it. In my long experience of politics all anyone can do, ultimately, is what they believe to be right and this I have done.

Jim Dowd - Former MP and Labour

Candidate Lewisham West and Penge

April 2015

Maria could you put in the whole email as it is the statement read out at the hustings?

[sydres]

I won't be voting for Jim either for exactly the same reasons as Spartacus - Sydenham deserves a far better MP...shame.