“Attack” is the watchword of the Government as it starts preparing for an election. A staffer outside Number 10 yesterday was snapped by photojournalist Steve Back flaunting an election planning document. It lists the current situation in marginal seats, recommending rough campaigns in Labour and Lib Dem territory. The plan also shows the Tory scramble to sort out their own backyard.
A number of seats are designated as “potential displacement” areas, where the sitting MP might be moving on. This is due to some MPs trying a “chicken run” from unsafe to safe seats. Because the next election will be fought after a boundary review, many seats have changed shape or disappeared entirely. A combination of redrawn boundaries and a poor showing for the Conservatives could see some previously comfortable MPs fighting for their political careers at the next election.
Possibly displaced MPs listed in the document include Scott Benton (Blackpool South) and Stuart Andrew (Pudsey) who have already, to varying degrees, made their intentions to find safer seats known. However, others in the leaked document like Christopher Clarkson (Heywood and Middleton) and Andy Carter (Warrington South) are new.
The plan gives no indication of the timing of an election, but there have been rumours of a spring 2024 contest.
Telescopic lens toting photographers like Back have caused trouble for governments before. In 2015, David Cameron’s No 10 staff installed a sign instructing those leaving and entering the building to cover their “loose” papers after security documents were snapped from across the street.
Inside track on the meeting where Labour banned Corbyn
Labour National Executive Committee member Ann Black says it wasn’t all smooth sailing at the meeting where Jeremy Corbyn was banned from the party. She recalls complaints from some that banning Corbyn for bad election results “sets a dangerous precedent” as most Labour leaders lose elections. Most of the anger at Corbyn during the meeting was over anti-Semitism, she writes in LabourList. Black ultimately voted to purge Corbyn despite thinking “the motion was fundamentally dishonest”.
‘Britain has a toxic international reputation’ says Philippe Sands
Fans of Philippe Sands, right, may be waiting a while for his next book. “Right now, I’m turning my attention to preventing the Government taking forward policies that could cause the UK to leave the European Convention on Human Rights,” he says following the battles over new illegal immigration policies. Sands, an international lawyer and the author of East West Street, says: “Britain’s international reputation is toxic.”
Trumped up charges on International Carrot Day?
We notice Donald Trump’s big court appearance in New York today falls on International Carrot Day. But perhaps it’s more than pure coincidence. Fredrik Fredricsson, the mysterious organiser of International Carrot Day, told us: “About Mr Trump, it was not easy to get this lined up and took a lot of work behind the scenes. But we really do hope he also will have some time to celebrate Carrot Day!”
Stars switch to hunger games
After his turn in The Last of Us, Pedro Pascal has been enjoying an extended stay in London. Last night he met up with fellow American actor Jon Favreau for a curry at Tayabbs in E1. After bagging his Olivier award, Paul Mescal was spotted with a bag of McDonalds. Munya Chawawa and Amelia Dimoldenberg were together at a Flannels party and Vick Hope tried on a fit from Kyha Studios. At the Southbank Centre, Ruth Wilson read from Max Porter’s new novel, Shy.
