Saturday, July 01, 2006
Post Mortem
As Labour politicians line up to give their twopennyworth on why the party lost the Blaenau Gwent by-elections, one in particular admits that things have not been going well for the government:
Mr Andrews, whose constituency is also a traditional Labour south Wales valleys seat, said the results were "dreadfully disappointing," even though he pointed to the party having increased its share of the vote and cut the independent majority.
Writing on the website Labour home, he said the party had faced significantly less hostility in the constituency, but the "unique circumstances" and events at both UK and Welsh level meant Labour "did not look coherent".
"At UK level we looked divided and scarcely in control of events, not least in the Home Office field," Mr Andrews wrote.
"When so much of your by-election campaign is focused on the issues of anti-social behaviour and crime, to seem in disarray nationally on sentencing, policing and even the management of the Home Office is not exactly going to inspire confidence," he said.
He also cited former Home Secretary Charles Clarke's comments on the Home Office the week before polling "almost in apparent ignorance of the by-elections taking place".
Mr Andrews also raised the mix-up in the assembly which led to Health Minister Brian Gibbons mistakenly voting for a public inquiry he opposed on the ambulance service.
"Assembly events - such as the previous week's voting cock-up - did not inspire confidence either," he wrote.
It is certainly an improvement on the other-worldly claims by some Labour MPs that it was all down to local issues and that in fact the party had done well to cut back the majority of the Independents.
Mr Andrews, whose constituency is also a traditional Labour south Wales valleys seat, said the results were "dreadfully disappointing," even though he pointed to the party having increased its share of the vote and cut the independent majority.
Writing on the website Labour home, he said the party had faced significantly less hostility in the constituency, but the "unique circumstances" and events at both UK and Welsh level meant Labour "did not look coherent".
"At UK level we looked divided and scarcely in control of events, not least in the Home Office field," Mr Andrews wrote.
"When so much of your by-election campaign is focused on the issues of anti-social behaviour and crime, to seem in disarray nationally on sentencing, policing and even the management of the Home Office is not exactly going to inspire confidence," he said.
He also cited former Home Secretary Charles Clarke's comments on the Home Office the week before polling "almost in apparent ignorance of the by-elections taking place".
Mr Andrews also raised the mix-up in the assembly which led to Health Minister Brian Gibbons mistakenly voting for a public inquiry he opposed on the ambulance service.
"Assembly events - such as the previous week's voting cock-up - did not inspire confidence either," he wrote.
It is certainly an improvement on the other-worldly claims by some Labour MPs that it was all down to local issues and that in fact the party had done well to cut back the majority of the Independents.
