Moving on up with Welsh Labour

You know me. I tend not to listen to rumour just as much as the next person. I tend to keep myself to myself, unless someone speaks so loudly that I can't help but hear.

Rumour has it that heads have been turned in the Assembly, in disgust at the way Eluned Morgan MEP has treated the party with contempt by first seeking re-selection for next year's European Election, only to pull out* when the prospect of bigger and brighter offers became apparent. Whatever some might think are bigger and brighter in the political world is purely speculative and remains to be seen.

Welsh Labour have already announced that each list member bounces up the list by one place, much to the delight of Lisa Stevens (Office Assistant to Eluned Morgan and next bright-young-thing in Labour's camp) whose prospect of becoming an elected politician is apparent, short of an election disaster for Labour.

Rumour has it that there are some who are eager to call for a re-opening of the Labour Euro selection process for Wales, which will undoubtedly be strongly resisted by Transport House, some even blame Transport House for their failure to make the top spot. Rumour has it that senior officers backed the selective few from very early on. In fact, if you were to have rummaged around on networking profiles during the selection process you would have seen Labour officials backing candidates that otherwise stood little chance of gaining a large percentage of votes. Oh, and these were the very same officers who were entrusted to keep the process fair and impartial.

If I were an eager observer of Welsh politics and concerned Labour supporter who cared about my party, what sort of questions would I be asking at this time?

1. Did Labour receive any motion requests for the Llandudno conference in March that called for the Euro selection process to be halted because of concerns over a stitch-up?
2. Was an official European office used for canvassing by candidates, against strict ethics rules? i.e. if a member of her staff called constituency secretaries to check they'd received correspondence and then asked if they would consider supporting them in the selection process it would contravene rules and standards in the European Parliament and the Labour Party.
3. Why were calls for party hustings during the selection process repeatedly refused by Transport House?
4. Does Eluned have any ambitions of being an Assembly Member, now or in the future?

Purely speculative, of course. You know me. I tend not to listen to rumour or gossip.

* Eluned Morgan MEP - who announced on Tuesday 14 October that she would not seek re-election to the European Parliament, after serving fifteen years as an MEP.

The full list of Welsh Labour’s candidates for the European election is as follows (as revised):

1. Derek Vaughan
2. Lisa Stevens
3. Rachel Maycock
4. Leighton Veale