What might have been
This week, I was at the House of Commons to attend a discussion hosted by a body called the Industry and Parliament Trust. Browsing through the latest magazine of the Trust, my attention was caught by an article about Labour Member of Parliament Austin Mitchell. It mentioned that he is the only MP who will celebrate his pearl anniversary in Parliament this year. This set me dreaming …
Thirty years ago today, the Grimsby Labour Party held a selection conference to chose a candidate to fight the by-election occasioned by the death of the sitting Labour MP and Government Minister Anthony Crosland. At the tender age of 29, I had applied for the selection and been shortlisted. I had already fought the two General Elections of 1974 as a Labour candidate in a seat we could not win and now wanted to obtain a selection in a seat where I stood a chance of election.
On the night, six of us addressed the selection conference. I gave a 10-minute speech which I had memorised so that I did not need notes and then answered questions for 15 minutes. I was pleased by my performance which was very well-received. Three and a half hours after the start of the meeting, it was announced that Austin Mitchell had been selected – but I had come second.
Several people were kind enough to tell me that my performance was better than Austin’s but the local party was about to face a very tough by-election and the feeling was that it would stand the best chance with a well-known local candidate (at the time Austin was appearing nightly on local independent television). They were right – against all expectations, Labour won the by-election and that would not have happened with me as the candidate.
If my life had worked our differently, I might well have been selected for a Labour-held seat and had a political career. But it did not happen and, on the whole, I don’t regret it. Thirty years later though, I am still passionately interested in politics and current affairs and I am still a member of the Labour Party.
April 1st, 2007 at 11:37 am
Just look at what you achieved for the Trade Union Movement and never forget without Trade Unionists the Labour Party would not have existed and in the final analysis (probably mine only) the Trade Union movement did more to improve conditions for people at the bottom of the heap, than any politician ever did.
April 3rd, 2007 at 7:22 pm
There is still time for Richard to take up where you left off. He’ll go far if he wants to.