Jonathan Walker: Comeback win for Gill?
Mar 12 2010 By Jonathan Walker
Former MEP Neena Gill could be making a comeback as Labour’s candidate for Walsall South.
She made it onto the shortlist of five, and the lucky winner will be announced on Wednesday.
Other contenders include Valerie Vaz, sister of high-profile Leicester MP Keith Vaz, who has been searching for a seat for some time, and hasn’t had luck convincing a constituency to pick her so far.
Ms Gill was a Labour MEP in the West Midlands from 1999 to 2009, but was defeated in an internal party battle following a decision to cut the number of West Midlands representatives in the European Parliament from seven to six.
This mean that Labour’s contingent in Strasbourg was almost certain to fall from two to just one.
-She and Michael Cashman, the former actor and her West Midlands Labour colleague in the European Parliament, both wanted to keep their jobs. But because of the proportional representation system used in European elections, who stayed and who went was largely determined by who was placed at the top of the party’s list of candidates.
This was decided internally by the party before the public even voted, and Mr Cashman received top billing. The Walsall South vacancy follows the announcement by sitting MP Bruce George that he is to stand down.
Meanwhile, Labour’s National Executive Committee is busy working on a shortlist of potential candidates for Halesowen & Rowley Regis, where Syliva Heal has also announced her retirement.
Labour won a majority here of 4,337 in 2005. Although not an easy win for the Conservatives, in theory it should be the type of seat they have a good chance in when the election comes in May.
But the Tories aren’t doing as well in the polls as one might expect.
Labour has been in power for 13 years. It has an unpopular leader, the economy is still in a fragile state and the country is stuck in a war with no end in sight.
The Conservatives have a charismatic and fresh-faced leader who may not be perfect, but is a huge asset to the party. Yet, recent polls have put the gap between the parties at as little as four per cent, with Labour on 32 per cent and the Tories at 36 per cent.
Mr Cameron should be doing better than this if he hopes to win those key West Midlands seats and form the next Government.
