Source
r/LabourUK•
BasitParks

Should a candidate's Brexit stance matter now Brexit is done?

I see some discussion on us selecting someone who was a Remainer in Hartlepool. With Brexit done, should the stance matter? It's a bit of a scary thing to see people suggest that someone's political views on the EU should have a bearing on if a person is ever even able to become an MP with Brexit done. This shouldn't be a Brexit byelection.

Now this isn't about the candidate himself, who may have 20 other objectionable things about him, but a more generic thing. Should we really be running only Brexiteers in Brexit voting seats? Does it even matter now that Brexit is essentially done in the minds of the country? It's not like we're running to go back into the EU.

I just find it a tad wrong for people to focus on if a person was Remain or Brexit now that it's done and isn't even a question. Should something like that really tar you for life? What if we had a candidate who was a local and perfect in all aspects but Brexit in a Remain area or vice versa? Should we really consider that as such a black mark?

Posted Mar 18, 2021, 3:51 PM UTC

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justthispleaseStarmer lied, Labour died.•

It shouldn't, but the Tories will make sure it does.

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MMSTINGRAYThough cowards flinch and traitors sneer...•

If Starmer let local parties choose their candidates then it would be up to them.

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popcornelephantVoted Remain, hate the EU•

I think Paul needs to be v vocal from the offset. It's done, finished and I have no interest in revisiting it.

This by-election is no longer a referendum on Brexit unlike the last GE. Hopefully the position on the question won't matter as much as previously.

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MMSTINGRAYThough cowards flinch and traitors sneer...•

If Starmer stuck to what he said about letting local parties choose candidates our opinion on what an acceptable level of "remain fanatic" is wouldn't matter.

It's clear Starmer views normal people as chumps who need to be lied to and managed. He doesn't seem himself as the first amongst equals, he and the PLP and the NEC are all full of people who think they are above the members.

3
popcornelephantVoted Remain, hate the EU•

I think it's pointless to point the finger solely at Starmer on this, as if every leader hasn't stitched up selections to suit themselves and sideline local party members/structures. It's a flaw of how Labour selects candidates rather than a unique problem under Starmer.

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MMSTINGRAYThough cowards flinch and traitors sneer...•

Starmer is the current leader and specifically said he wouldn't do this though didn't he? And as current leader there is no one more able to lead by example or kickstart reform on this front.

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popcornelephantVoted Remain, hate the EU•

Sure. Jeremy also gave more credit and promises to the grassroots than any leader in my lifetime, but he was part of the whole grubby process too. I think until the rules change we'll see this forever - not sure how you can realistically change the rules either.

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Aqua-RegisDirty perverted sex case keyboard warrior•

Wait I thought he was put forward by the CLP, am I misunderstanding what this means?

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MMSTINGRAYThough cowards flinch and traitors sneer...•

There are various ways to stich up candidates. In this case I believe Williams was tipped off early, then it was announced last minute, meaning no other candidates came forward. So there was a choice of one.

You rush through these things to bypass the influence of the local party and to get them to essentially rubber stamp your choice.

People are correct this is typical Labour politics crap but it being typical crap doesn't stop it being crap. And Starmer is the current leader and Nandy is in his shadow cabinet and both of them said this would not happen anymore.

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Aqua-RegisDirty perverted sex case keyboard warrior•

Ah I see, I'd missed the info on the early tip off. Cheers for clarifying.

1
CuckyMcCuckerCuckNew User•

It matters if it matters to the electorate. People were fervent about making Brexit happen to the degree that even in "red wall" districts historically Labour voters voted for a corrupt, incompetent Conservative government against their own interests. There's no reason to think that that kind of reactionary idiocy is going to somehow give way to a nuanced, critically reasoned understanding of the relative unimportance of a candidate's prior Brexit stance.

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Aqua-RegisDirty perverted sex case keyboard warrior•

It'll matter less and less as times go on most likely, if public opinion turns on the deal we got enough it could even be an asset.

"We wanted a second referendum so that the people would have had a chance to reject the half baked deal the Tories delivered us blah blah"

Might be wishful thinking on my second point though lol

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thatguybruvModerate Non-Aligned•

It shouldn’t but in a 70% leave seat, it will to a lot of them, he also said Saudi was progressive and modern

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debaser11New User•

It depends how passionate they were about it. Eg. Running one of the most anti-Brexit MPs in a heavy leave seat would be bad, while running a soft remainer who accepted the referendum result would not be big deal.

And vice versa for a Leaver in a remain seat.

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