Tenterden Cllr. Sec Weald of Kent Labour. Ex-Policy Head John Smith MP,
#United2EndMND
for late son Cllr Alex Ward. Heads global sustainable transport charity.
Proud to have moved successful motion on proportional representation at Labour’s Annual Conference 2022. Time for Labour to make all votes matter wherever they are cast.
4 years ago my late son Alex Ward was working his socks off to serve the public on Ashford Council. He succeeded with fine
@UKLabour
victory in Beaver Ward. Tragically he was lost to MND in July 2020. I’m standing this year in his memory & to follow his example of public service.
Grim to see Nigel Farage with his photographer at Ranville 6th Airborne cemetery where my uncle is buried. Told him it was disgusting to weaponise D Day saying small boat crossings ‘invasion in reverse’, or as attack against alleged woke teaching. He didn’t stay for the service.
Labour has won 11 of 13 mayoral elections across England. Tories now want to force future mayoral contests to be first past the post rather than supplementary vote system used now. They know FPTP favours the right. Time now for
@UKLabour
to support
@Labour4PR
#MakeVotesMatter
!
As Margaret Beckett stands down as chair of
@UKLabour
NEC worth celebrating her remarkable contribution to public life. 1st elected MP in 1974. 1st female Deputy Leader UKLabour. 1st female Foreign Secretary. Also Sec of State for Trade & Industry, Environment & Commons Leader.
Huge show of hands in favour of PR motion at
#Lab21
. Card vote called but support for electoral reform now at the highest level I have ever seen in over 40 years
@UKLabour
membership. Congratulations
@Labour4PR
on a superb campaign!
When John Smith tragically died in May 1994
@UKLabour
was polling 21% ahead of Tories & by nearly 20% on which party ‘best to manage economy’. A month later we won landslide in EuroParl elections with 42.6% of vote. Proud of his legacy setting Labour on clear path to 97 victory.
On the anniversary of his sad death in 1994 a compilation of
@UKLabour
leader John Smith’s House of Commons demolitions of John Major’s Conservative Government. A masterclass in the combination of humour & political attack.
With my son Alex on the campaign trail in 2019. He won & was so proud to be elected to Ashford Council. Today is his 34th birthday but tragically he was lost to MND in July 2020. Much missed every day but always an inspiration to his family & friends.
Having helped write the Leader’s speech for late John Smith, I know the huge effort required. That was a fine performance by
@Keir_Starmer
setting a clear objective for all
@UKLabour
members to keep our eyes focussed on: winning power at the next election.
Good to see a leading
@UKLabour
politician who gets the need for electoral reform. Welcome support for proportional representation & Lords reform much needed for democratic renewal.
Labour’s changing attitude to electoral reform powerfully demonstrated by
@campbellclaret
call to end first past the post:
. Time for
@UKLabour
to make all votes matter equally no matter where they are cast.
In 2021
@UKLabour
won 11 out of 13 mayoral elections all under proportional representation. Now the Tories have legislated for them to be held in future under First Past the Post. Making voting less fair is the Tory tactic of trickle down democracy in plain sight.
28 years ago
@UKLabour
leader John Smith died. His legacy includes minimum wage, freedom of information, & devolution. He argued that social justice & economic efficiency go hand in hand. Policies & ideas inherited by Tony Blair & lasting achievements of 1997 Labour Government.
Huge progress
#Labour4PR
campaign as UK’s largest trade union
@unisontheunion
votes to scrap First Past The Post. Joins UNITE, ASLEF, Musicians Union, FBU, CWU & more supporting electoral reform. With over 80%
@UKLabour
members in favour of PR time for policy change is now.
Brilliant explanation of the reality of Brexit by Kent farmer David Catt. Compare the arrogant condescension of Rees Mogg with the straight talking of a farmer who actually knows what he is talking about.
This is the most glorious three minutes of TV I’ve watched in years. Watch
@Jacob_Rees_Mogg
get his faux aristocratic bottom handed to him on a farmer’s plate.
Who voted for trickledown Truss? Where is the mandate? Our democracy is broken by winner takes all voting system that allows the Tories to force feed policies that majority reject.
@UKLabour
must win big at next GE & then opt for fair votes to make first past the post history.
Much missed
@UKLabour
leader John Smith died today in 1994.
@Emma_MacLennan
& I were proud to work & be friends with him. For a wonderful reminder of the warmth of his character & values take a listen to his 1991 appearance on Desert Island Discs.
Powerful critique by
@annettedittert
@NewStatesman
of Britain’s democratic decay under our ‘winner takes all’ 1st past the post elections. Time for
@UKLabour
&
@Keir_Starmer
to restore trust in politics by giving democratic reform the priority it deserves.
30 years ago John Smith set out a radical agenda to build a citizen’s democracy. Like
@Keir_Starmer
today Smith wanted to end ‘sticking plaster politics’. But to achieve this
@UKLabour
must support fair votes & scrap first past the post!
Great article in the Times by James Forsyth of the Spectator on why proportional representation is an existential threat to the Tories. Must read
@Keir_Starmer
& entire Labour leadership. And why
@Labour4PR
motion to 2022 Conference must be supported!
This graph
@DavidHenigUK
puts Aus/U.K. trade deal into perspective. 200 more deals like this needed to compensate for predicted loss of GDP caused by leaving the Single Market (not mandated in 2016) but there just aren’t enough countries. Hard Brexit remains an act of self harm!
Forget idea that Rishi Sunak is a Thatcherite. He wants to repeat John Major’s election win in 1992. That’s why
@Keir_Starmer
must study the Tory tactics of the election Labour lost rather than the 1997 landslide. My latest
@MileEndInst
blog explains why.
For too long New Labour figures like
@DMiliband
have pushed a ‘one more heave’ myth about John Smith. 30 years since he became
@UKLabour
leader I argue they’re wrong
@MileEndInst
: His legacy was more radical & reforming than Blair’s ‘modernisers’ think 1/7
A brilliant clip of my old boss John Smith using humour to devastating effect against John Major. At the end even the Tories start laughing and Labour’s benches erupt...I remember working on that speech like it was yesterday. Happy memories of a great leader.
Great result
@AshfordLabour
now with 11 Councillors, including winning back our late son Alex Ward’s seat in Beaver. I came second in Tenterden North but I’m delighted to have taken a seat on Tenterden Town Council with plenty of local issues to campaign on.
Delighted & proud to have moved successful
@AshfordLabour
composite motion in favour of proportional representation. Long time supporter of PR & great to contribute to historic
#LabourConference2022
vote. Thanks to
@Labour4PR
team for their brilliant campaign.
#MakeVotesMatter
Awkward truth is that nothing will ‘make Brexit work’ because the hard Brexit we’ve got is unworkable. Best that can be done is to mitigate its worst effects. Ultimately only new relationship to Single Market will halt interminable squabbles & economic stagnation of Brexternity.
Wonderful evening celebrating the 90th birthday of
@AlfDubs
in the House of Lords. Alf’s is a truly inspirational public servant. A kindertransport child that has contributed so much as MP for Battersea,
@UKLabour
peer, Northern Ireland Minister & champion of refugee children.
The Guardian is right to say that
@UKLabour
should back PR. But wrong to say that the party does not back reform. At
#LabConference22
a historic motion was passed with unprecedented support. Some argue that PR is a distraction but most Lab members want it.
@fleetstreetfox
#WealdofKentLabour
has already asked Ms Lam 5 questions about her roles working for disgraced Johnson & Braverman. No reply yet! Her letter says nothing about this. As Tory rural support crumbles not surprising she’s being very coy about her hard right Tory past.
Touching that one of last Commons speeches by Dame Margaret Beckett was about late
@UKLabour
leader John Smith. Dep. Leader from 1992, acting Leader after his death during landslide victory in 1994 Euro elections, & cabinet minister in Blair government. First elected MP in 1974!
Great to meet Shadow Chancellor
@RachelReevesMP
& Shadow Chief Secretary
@patmcfaddenmp
to share experience of working with late John Smith former Leader & Shadow Chancellor. Very impressed by
@UKLabour
Treasury team so full of capability & competence. We need them in No 11 ASAP!
I accompanied Margaret Beckett 30 years ago on this trip to the 50th anniversary, was with her in Bayeux cemetery & remember well the veterans reaction. Given my family links with D Day it was a very moving occasion & my last working for Leader of the Opposition.
@lewis_goodall
Have been thinking all day about this interview I did with Margaret Beckett (nearly 10yrs ago) when she talked about going to the D-Day 50th anniversary as Leader of the Opposition. Have never forgotten it, because the memory quite suddenly and unexpectedly, reduced her to tears.
Great to meet with my old friend
@patmcfaddenmp
this morning. Nearly 30 years ago he joined me working in the office of late
@UKLabour
leader John Smith. Today he is serving as a fine Shadow Chief Secretary with
@RachelReevesMP
&
@Keir_Starmer
preparing for return to government.
@paulmasonnews
Sadly not something Jeremy Corbyn ever understood resulting in an abject failure of leadership during the 2016 referendum...significantly responsible for all the Brexit disaster that has followed.
After 12 years of Tory chaos & 4 Prime Ministers who can plausibly claim that first past the post delivers stable governments with majority support? Time for
#LabConference22
to scrap FPTP & support
@Labour4PR
campaign to reform our unfair broken voting system.
#MakeVotesMatter
In his blog Brexit & Beyond
@chrisgreybrexit
regularly excels. His latest is among his very best & a ‘must read’ for anyone interested in understanding why the false promises of Brexit Britain are increasingly discredited. …
John Smith - who was elected Leader of
@UKLabour
on this day 30 years ago - was masterful in using humour against John Major’s government. Here are some examples:
Recent revealing taxi driver remark to me about Brexit. “Feel sick about it…voted Leave as a protest vote never thinking it would happen. My daughter didn’t speak to me for three weeks. Regret it so much…we were lied too”.
@williamkeegan
spot on!
Pleased to have submitted on behalf of Tenterden Branch this contribution on electoral reform to
@UKLabour
National Policy Forum consultation. The NPF should support scrapping FPTP post in favour of a proportional voting system as overwhelmingly agreed at 2022 Annual Conference.
A strong message from
@UKLabour
most senior holder of government office
@MarkDrakeford
in favour of Labour’s 2022 Conference motion in support of proportional representation. And why Labour’s National Policy Forum this year must prioritise electoral reform.
"To those who continue to fear a change in the electoral system, I say simply: look at what we have done here in Wales. 25 years of winning and working within a proportional system."
@PrifWeinidog
calls for PR for UK general elections at
#WelshLab23
, today in Llandudno 🌹✊
So proud to be
@UKLabour
Tenterden North candidate in May 4th Council elections. Inspired by my much missed son Cllr Alex Ward’s dedication to public service lost to MND in 2020. Tenterden needs new leadership that cares & can get things done.
#ToriesHaveTakenTenterdenForGranted
!
Interesting piece by
@Dannythefink
in the Times. He recognises Tory bias of current FPTP system. His argument predicated on hung Parliament but electoral reform should be part of
@UKLabour
election winning strategy offering bold package of democratic renewal, votes at 16, & PR.
Thanks
@LabourList
for publishing response by
@osbornecaro
& me to
@GordonBrown
Commission. Great that
@UKLabour
leading on constitutional reform. Now we need to put electoral reform at heart of Labour’s plan for renewal & modernisation of our democracy.
@andrewrawnsley
Yes, ‘good chaps’ approach to democratic governance has been tested to destruction. But reform agenda must include end to first past the post which concentrates power in a few swing seats & reduces accountability to the many living in ‘safe’ seats.
Inspired choice by John Smith to make her his running mate in 1992
@UKLabour
leadership election! She had worked with John in the Treasury team as Shadow Chief Secretary & impressed as tough minded & hard working. Exactly the same qualities today.
Rather than belittle his legacy, New Labour should finally acknowledge their huge good fortune to have inherited
@uklabour
leadership after combined efforts of both Neil Kinnock & John Smith. Labour’s victory in 1997 was built on the shoulders of great modernising leaders. 7/7
John Smith’s characteristic wit was used to good effect as John Major was forced “to threaten his own party with electoral suicide” after losing
@UKLabour
vote on the social chapter. Major survived but only by demonstrating the near ungovernable state of the Conservative Party.
@spellar
Far better to have Farage lead a rump of UKIP MPs who would have been exposed for the charlatans they are, than have the Tory party turned into a UKIP tribute act government under FPTP with all the chaos that has followed since.
@Labour4PR
@DenisMacShane
@campbellclaret
@ThatAlexWoman
Your frustration Alastair was understandable. How an ex MEP can so totally misrepresent the UK’s role in EU legislation through Council & the European Parliament as well as House of Commons scrutiny is beyond me. The Brexit lies just keep on coming.
4 out of 5
@UKLabour
members support proportional representation. On
@MakeVotesMatter
Summer Day of Action good time to make noise for great
@Labour4PR
2021 Conference motion campaign to shift policy unequivocally in favour of PR & electoral reform. …
Good to see electoral reform recognised as a key issue in powerful
@RoryStewartUK
article in today’s
@FT
arguing for systemic change to UK public life. FPTP ‘winner takes all’ politics has been key enabler of Johnson, Brexit, & Tory Governments elected by a minority of voters.
Last year proud to have moved historic
@AshfordLabour
motion in favour of proportional representation & pleased that
@labpolicyforum
now agrees that our voting system is flawed. FPTP should be scrapped. Make every vote count no matter where it is cast!
At last year’s
@UKLabour
Conference
@AshfordLabour
moved historic motion in favour of electoral reform. Our CLP has now made
@labpolicyforum
submission calling for a manifesto commitment to replace First Past the Post with a proportional system in which all votes count equally.
Card vote blocks electoral reform motion. Disappointing but not a surprise. Affiliated unions must be focus of
@Labour4PR
campaign. With such overwhelming CLP support trade unions have duty to study the case for PR & especially the evidence of systematic right wing bias of FPTP
Great day campaigning
@dover_labour
in Deal with their excellent candidate
@MikeTappTweets
together with
@EmilyThornberry
. Very good reception on the doorstep in this key general election target seat.
Superb article by
@DEHEdgerton
on mythologised understanding of
@UKLabour
working class support. “Labour needs to understands it’s own history, celebrate its successes & love itself, it’s members & voters” Wise words beyond either New Labour & Corbyn eras.
With campaigning for May 4th Local Elections in full swing, many happy memories of my late son Cllr Alex Ward (2nd from right) pounding the doorsteps of Beaver ward for
@AshfordLabour
. His efforts were rewarded with a fine
@UKLabour
win taking seat back from UKIP.
#United2EndMND
Great opening speech by
@RachelReevesMP
@thefabians
@FEPS_Europe
New Year conference. Inspiring vision of how
@UKLabour
will improve living standards with plan for growth & investment in a pro worker & pro business clean power green prosperity plan by 2030.
Smith also called for reform of global economic governance in new Bretton Woods. He warned about derivatives risk to financial stability anticipating 2008 financial crisis. Instead New Labour fell for ‘light touch’ regulation that failed to avoid risk of banking collapse. 5/7
Excellent article
@oli_ward_1
on the importance of late John Smith’s radical agenda of constitutional reform set out in his March 1993 Charter 88 lecture. Surely time for
@Keir_Starmer
to set out similarly bold vision of Britain’s democratic governance? .
Our democracy is broken & its wrecking our economy. Truss chosen as PM by just 80,000 Tories. Now her & Kwarteng’s fantasy fiscal policies are failing. Moving
#Lab22
PR motion I warned about trickledown democracy. Here it is in action. Votes of a few wrecking the economy for all.
Great morning campaigning for our
@woklabour
local election candidates Rory Silkin & Julie Skinner in Staplehurst. Very positive doorstep response from voters fed up with the Tory chaos and division. Time for change in Maidstone Borough Council & Westminster.
#VoteLabour2024
!
Finally goodbye & good riddance to the disastrous Bullingdon Club MPs Cameron, Osborne, & Johnson. Authors of austerity, Brexit, & the chaos of 13 years of Conservative incompetence. Wrecked the country & now gone without paying the bill.
Collapse of Tory support in ‘Blue Wall’ rural seats gives new opportunities
@UKLabour
provided it reaches out to ‘politically homeless’ rural voters. Ending first past the post is needed to give rural communities the power to
#MakeVotesMatter
.
Just heading home from
#LabourConference2022
. A great week for
@UKLabour
. Proud to have been able to represent
@AshfordLabour
. My son, tragically lost to motor neurone disease in 2020, was our CLP delegate in 2017. He would be delighted to see Labour ready to govern again soon.
Electoral Reform on agenda at
#Lab21
today. Brilliant campaign by
@Labour4PR
gives
@Keir_Starmer
@UKLabour
opportunity to scrap unfair FPTP, lead UK democratic renewal & halt slide into Tory elective dictatorship. Any undecided delegates please read:
Weakly argued case
@andrew_harrop
@IndyVoices
against
@UKLabour
commitment to PR should embolden advocates for voting reform. Harrop accepts PR is fairer & FPTP risks “another 100 years of Tory rule” but only offers uninspiring & minimalist way forward.
Next month’s
@labpolicyforum
must back new
@UKLabour
consensus that First Past the Post should scrapped. Time to make all votes matter equally wherever they are cast. Read why in new
@LabourList
article by
@aBeeJones1
& myself here:
Great article in
@Chartist48
by stalwart
@Labour4PR
campaigner Mary Southcott on
#LabourConference2022
decision to scrap first past the post. Proud to have played a part in this historic vote for electoral reform.
Neil Kinnock’s finest moment when he bravely exposed the Militant Tendency & rescued the Labour Party from oblivion. Presented here in the late Hugh Hudson’s brilliant election broadcast.
Pleased to attend my first meeting of Tenterden Town Council this evening. Congratulations to the new Mayor
@sueferguson
& looking forward to a productive four year term serving the community of this beautiful town in the heart of the Weald of Kent.
@BethRigby
Probably disastrous for Truss as the hack would have revealed that her main focus as Foreign Secretary was arranging photo opps for her future leadership bid.
@labour_history
That the UK minimum wage exists at all is in large part due to the leadership of John Smith & Rodney Bickerstaffe and more than a decade of campaigning at the Low Pay Unit by
@Emma_MacLennan
& others that led to
@UKLabour
1998 Act.
@AnnelieseDodds
Time for
@UKLabour
to set out bold agenda of good governance & democratic reform. I argued this here, please read: & what is Gordon Brown’s Commission doing? Why is electoral reform not dealt with in
@labpolicyforum
?
Interesting article on
@Keir_Starmer
strategy by
@ProfTimBale
. Argues that less may be more. Not surprisingly I enjoyed the comparison with my old boss John Smith
Why
@Keir_Starmer
should support PR. Lessons from Labour’s past failure to secure electoral reform & New Zealand’s remarkable success. Recalls discussions with John Smith & Robin Cook. Thanks for publishing
@openDemocracy
!
A powerful demonstration of late
@UKLabour
leader John Smith’s command of the House of Commons. Here demolishing John Major’s failing Tory government after the collapse of its economic policy on ‘Black Wednesday’ in September 1992.
“This is a Government whose economic policy is in tatters, whose credibility is blown, whose incompetence has been exposed”.
Today we kick off our reflections of John Smith - to mark the 30th anniversary of his death - with his response to Black Wednesday in Sept 1992
"Very simply put it just means that everybody's vote counts. It means that Parliament reflects - accurately - the votes of the people."
@UKLabour
conference voted for:
📃 Proportional Representation in the next manifesto
⏱️ Reform in the 1st term of the next Labour government
Great morning out campaigning with my fellow
@AshfordLabour
local election candidates. Sunny skies and friendly reception as we challenge ‘local conservatives’ that have taken Tenterden for granted for too long.
#VoteLabourMay4th
.
Pleased to be serving as Policy Officer
@AshfordLabour
. Last similar role for me was Head of Policy for the late
@UKLabour
Leader John Smith (1992-94). A bit younger then but just as committed now to a radical policy agenda of social justice, environmental, & democratic reform.
Wonderful speech
@YvetteCooperMP
@MileEndInst
about late
@UKLabour
leader John Smith. Recalled memories of our work together for Treasury team pre-1992. And Smith’s powerful legacy, devolution, minimum wage, freedom of information & lessons his leadership has for Labour today.
Not a paper I usually buy but today’s Sunday Express strongly supports campaign for £50m govt funding to find cure for Motor Neurone Disease, that took my son Alex last July. A great cause fighting a cruel disease.
Some of the Blair Government’s lasting achievements are in large part due to Smith: minimum wage, freedom of information, devolution in Scotland & Wales etc. Cut tragically short Smith’s leadership achieved much more than appears in New Labour’s tiresome ‘year zero’ narrative 6/7