Big changes to the political map of England including the dismemberment of my old Pendle constituency.

Since its creation in 1983, the constituency has shared the same boundaries as the local council. But that, like so much else, is being ripped up in the drive to equalise electorates.

Nationwide, the proposals are far reaching, hitting the Lib Dems hardest.

In Pendle, the overwhelmingly white West Craven will be bolted on to the very conservative Ribble Valley.

The substantial Lib Dem vote in Barnoldswick, painstakingly built up over decades, will be submerged in a sea of blue.

The small working class town of Earby - which, to me, will always be the “Tory Town” - goes into Ribble Valley. Mysteriously, the town turns out in great numbers for Conservative candidates. Always has done.

Pendle’s remaining wards will be fused with part of neighbouring Burnley to become Burnley North and Nelson. There will be a very substantial British Asian vote up for grabs.

On paper the new constituency looks like a three way marginal but it is very likely to go Labour at the next election.

The Lib Dem vote is artificially inflated. Their junior partner status in the Conservative led coalition has locked them into an increasingly unpopular Government from which there is no escape

Burnley’s Lib Dem MP, the ineffectual Gordon Birtwistle, has failed to deliver on his solemn promise to re-instate Accident and Emergency at Burnley General. This was the war cry that got him elected to the Commons in May of last year. Now all we hear are mumbles and feeble excuses.

The Lib Dem vote in Pendle at the 2010 election was also boosted by their candidate, Afzal Anwar, who, despite being totally useless, captured a significant slice of the British Pakistani vote. He flamboyantly chained himself to the hospital railings, vowing, like Birtwistle, to bring back A&E. He has said nothing of significance since.

He is toast if he stands again.

But will the Boundary Commission’s proposed changes get through the Commons?

Will MPs vote for their own extinction?

I have my doubts.

With the prospect of so much blood on the floor, I suspect a compromise will emerge to defer the vote until the next Parliament.

Compromise. That’s what coalitions do.

Darling on Broon

Darling’s description of Broon as “brutal and volcanic” doesn’t really do justice to the former PM.

Broon was simply unsuited to the job which, by its very nature, requires “people skills”. For all his other talents, Broon, the machine politician, never found it easy to relax and be comfortable in the company of others.

The backslapping was all phoney. The rictus smile gave the game away.

The tragedy is that those closest to him in the Cabinet bit their tongues and said nothing when it was obvious to everyone else that he was taking the ship down with him.

Here is the letter I sent to all members of the Pendle Labour Party in July 2008. (see attachment below)

Attachments:

2011_08_26_north-west_online_v2.pdf	[Boundary Commission proposals for the North West]	359 Kb
9aa The Labour Leadership September 2008.pdf	[The Labour Leadership. September 2008]	5753 Kb