Glasgow Central – a dynasty

Mohammed Sarwar’s son – Anas Sarwar – has been selected to succeed his father, who is stepping down at the next election as MP for Glasgow Central. Sarwar Jnr recently graduated from university and now works as a dentist.

He was a Labour Party candidate on the Glasgow regional list for the recent elections to the Scottish Parliament. Glasgow Central is a safe Labour seat with a majority of over 8000 and Sarwar Jnr joins Labour’s Yasmin Qureshi in Bolton East as only the second Labour prospective parliamentary candidate to be selected in a safe seat.

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House Music

The 1997 Labour victory ushered in a new generation of women into British politics. Oona King became only the second black woman to be elected to parliament.  Her new book, “House Music: The Oona King Diaries”, gives a moving account of her time as an MP and is published this week – here TMP gives you a preview.

How does it feel to lose your job in front of 10 million people? To become an MP in your twenties? To ask a Government Whip for time to see your husband? To sleep on the floor while waiting to vote in the middle of the night? To represent the Secretary of State for Health at a family-planning clinic on the day you fail your 5th IVF cycle? To be loved and hated by people who don’t even know you? To be the second black woman elected to Parliament? To be a Jewish woman representing a largely Muslim constituency? To be the only MP who likes house music?

The 1997 Labour victory changed British politics for ever, ushering in a new generation of women into parliament. The most high profile of ‘Blair’s babes’, Oona King, won a prized London constituency and became an MP at 29.

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Ten policy questions for the Tories in London

The Conservative Party holds its first hustings event to select its London Mayoral candidate this evening. Commenting on the process, Tory Party Chair, Caroline Spelman said “I am delighted that we have four excellent candidates for voters to chose from and encourage all Londoners to get involved.” The four strong shortlist includes Andrew Boff, Victoria Borwick, Warwick Lightfoot and Boris Johnson, who is widely tipped to win the race.

The Conservatives have invited the people of London to get involved in the selection by registering with the party by using a special election line – any registered voter in London can take part in the open primary process by phoning the ballot hotline on 0906 555 5050. London members of the Conservative Party will automatically be registered to take part in the ballot. Spelman described the process as a unique way for people to get involved in deciding who will represent the Conservative Party in next May’s elections.

Ahead of this evening’s event, Labour Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, said,
 ”The Tories today start hustings in their pay-to-vote primary. Any Londoner can vote – presumably including me. But of course I will not vote, and ask those who support me to do likewise – it’s for the Tories to decide who they want to champion their wrong path for the capital – but what is legitimate is to set out the key policy questions Londoners should expect to hear answered by the potential Tory candidates.”

Mr Livingstone has set out ten key policy questions that he had dealt with and which he says Londoners should expect the Tories to deal with as they select their mayoral candidate.

These are:

1. Why should the Tories want to overturn the successful course London is on, with London widely seen as the world’s most successful city, having overtaken even New York, with London as the world’s number one international business centre, winning the Olympic Games, with the most vibrant cultural life of any capital, chairing the organisation of world cities on climate change and successfully rebuilding its public services after Thatcherite squalor during the 1990s?

2. Will the Tories maintain the basis of the present revival of London’s bus system, which has led to over one a half million extra bus rides a day, and therefore reject Boris Johnson’s disastrous policy of introducing a bus contract system that has failed in the rest of Britain?

3. Can the Tories be trusted to protect London’s travel concessions, such as free travel for under-18s in full-time education, and the Freedom pass for London’s older and disabled people, when they have repeatedly voted against the first and attempted to weaken protection for the second?

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Millen, Goulbourne and Hussain to win?

Floyd Millen (right) has been shortlisted for selection as Labour’s prospective parliamentary candidate (PPC) in Liverpool West Derby where the local party have chosen not to automatically reselect the sitting Labour MP, 77 year old Bob Wareing. Wareing is a member of the Socialist Campaign Group and has regularly rebelled against the government.

The hustings to choose the new PPC takes place next Sunday 16 September. Though the former minister and MP Stephen Twigg is considered to be the favourite, Millen, a protégé of former Home Secretary, Charles Clarke, and a programme director at the Black Training and Enterprise Group, will be hoping this will be his third time lucky having performed strongly and got shortlisted in Putney and Bristol West. The constituency is a safe Labour seat.

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Vaz renews calls for all ethnic minority shortlists

The Guardian reports today of senior Labour backbencher Keith Vaz’s call for the introduction of all ethnic minority shortlists for Labour parliamentary selections.

Vaz, who was amongst the original gang of four ethnic minority MPs elected for the first time in 1987, is the Black Socialist Society’s representative on Labour’s National Executive Committee and chair of the party’s Ethnic Minority Taskforce.

At present all ethnic minority shortlists would contravene the provisions of the Race Relations Act. Vaz intends to introduce a new bill in parliament to allow all ethnic minority shortlists of candidates to be declared in constituencies, in the same way as all women shortlists.

Vaz’s move comes after Skills Minister David Lammy (pictured right with Barack Obama) made the same call in early May for all ethnic minority shortlists, which brought the issue to the fore during the Labour deputy leadership contest. During the deputy leadership race, Work and Pensions Secretary Peter Hain, Communities Secretary Hazel Blears and Jon Cruddas all came out in favour of the measure.

Commenting on the move, Vaz said,
“It’s the only way we’re going to increase representation. The fact is the party needs to do more. We have to ensure we get more black and Asian MPs into parliament at the next election. That means we have to positively discriminate in favour and have all ethnic minority shortlists. I think all three parties have failed.”

Aside from sitting MPs, the Conservatives have so far selected six ethnic minority candidates in winnable or safe seats, whilst Labour has only selected three in Bolton South East, Bethnal Green & Bow and Ealing Central and Acton.

On 30 May 2007 at a Labour Party event in Leicester, Prime Minister Gordon Brown (pictured left with Lord Paul) said that it was wrong that there were so few ethnic minority MPs and pledged to address the issue.

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Eye on Obama: Mrs Obama in London

ABC News reported last night that Michelle Obama will be descending on London for a fundraiser for her husband’s campaign at the swanky Landmark Hotel, on 15 October 2007.

Her husband will not be there as his team are reluctant to let him leave the U.S at this crucial time, so Michelle will be standing in. Only U.S citizens will be allowed to donate up to $2,300 due to the strict campaign finance rules surrounding Presidential campaigns which extend to foreign events.

Obama has proved his fundraising prowess having raised more than $58m (£29m), compared with Hillary Clinton’s $52m, in the first six months of this year.

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