Intro + Shite Convo
Somewhere In Between
The story of the Rt. Honourable Paddy Ashdown's Government.
The story of the Rt. Honourable Paddy Ashdown's Government.
[Taken from 'Soldier of War, Soldier of Politics - Memoirs' by Paddy Ashdown, Random House 2009]
'...My first proper flirtation with parliament was when I was selected to fight the formidable Alan Clark in Plymouth Sutton. Clark had gathered a controversial reputation, and not just for his history books. The allegations of his affairs with a Judge's wife and daughters were prevalent. We waged a good campaign and got some help from the national party (Incidentally, it was where I first met David Owen, then Foreign Secretary), but the national feeling had turned against Labour at that time with the Winter of Discontent, and there were concerns about my lack of connection to the area (Clark made a rather nasty point about my childhood in Belfast which I won't bring up here). He kept his seat with a mighty majority. I understood that it would happen, but I felt rather disappointed. I kept my head down for a while after that.
---
My next run in with parliament was the Darlington by-election. The previous MP, Edward Fletcher (who had served the people there for 19 years beforehand) had died at the age of 72, opening up his seat. I felt rather uneasy about seeking it, as there would've been questions about residency as my wife and I had only lived in Durham since 1981. There was also fears about the SDP, as the Alliance had just scored a major victory in Bermondsy, securing one of the largest swings on record. After consulting with my friend and future ally Cherie Blair (whose husband Tony had recently become a councillor in Hackney), I decided to stand. I faced stiff competition from Oswald 'Ossie' O'Brien, a local teacher. He actually had the distinction of losing by a single vote to Edward Fletcher in a selection contest in 1966, something that he liked to bring up. He was a warm, nice man, and I felt very guilty about standing against him at the time. Nevertheless, he was gracious in his defeat, and allowed me to focus on the rest of the election.
My opponent was the then unknown Michael Fallon of the Conservative Party. He was 30 years old, and quite an ardent Thatcherite. He lambasted me for accepting an offer from Michael Foot to campaign for me, trying all the old nonsense about how I would be subservient to the Militant Tendency and such. My other opponent was Tony Cook of the SDP, who was rather weak as a candidate, as exposed by the journalist Vincent Hanna shortly before the by-election. The SDP viewed winning this by-election as very much necessary, sending out Bill Rodgers and amusingly, David Owen. Foot staked a lot of hope into the campaign, knowing that if Darlington had gone, so would he.
A pressing issue was the closure of the Shildon railway. Mrs. Thatcher had refused to intervene, causing it to fold. Norman Tebbit's bashing of the business had cost Fallon a small chunk of unsure voters who went to either Labour or the SDP, both of whom had pledged to reopen it. Darlington had whethered the storm better than its neighbours because it had coupled its industry with lighter forms of upkeep (such as tobacco). We had dealt with the issue rather well, and come the night itself, we had a very small reduction in our majority, and the Tories had went backwards massively.
Of course, I had lost it by a thin margin only a few months later during the nightmare election of 1983. Cherie (Now the newly elected member for Burnley) called me shortly after the result had been declared, saying what a shame it was that I had been 'booted out' of parliament.
[Taken from 'Career of Paddy Ashdown', TheWebWiki article]
1979 Plymouth Sutton Result
Alan Clark (C) - 50.5%
Paddy Ashdown (L) - 40.2%
J. Scannell (LB) - 9.3%
1983 Darlington by election Result
Paddy Ashdown(L) - 43.9%
Michael Fallon (C) - 30.1%
Anthony Cook (SDP) - 25.2%
1983 Darlington Result
Michael Fallon (C) - 40.1%
Paddy Ashdown (L) - 39.8%
Ray Dutton (SDP) - 20.0%
1985 Tyne Bridge by election Result
Paddy Ashdown (L) - 60.2%
Rod Kenyon (SDP) - 30.1%
Jacqui Lait (C) - 8.5%
---
'allo allo
'ola
Que Paso?
Como pueden observar - no, we're not doing this.
Anyway, as you can see, this is about Paddy Ashdown.
I can ascertain that. It's the little subtitle I'm wondering about...
What, you mean 'The story of the Rt. Honourable Paddy Ashdown's goverment'?
Yes, that one. It's pretty...spoilery, isn't it?
Ah, yes. Well, Ashdown's premiership is going to be quite important to the 'story', as it is.
Speaking of, why's he Labour?
As he talks about here, Ashdown only says he 'became' a Liberal/liberal due to a conversation with a rather chipper canvasser. The PoD here is that the canvasser trips before seeing the Ashdown household, moving on as he gets up. Getting Ashdown back into Labour is a bit tricky, but I'll use a wee bit of handwaving and assume he rejoins Labour on his birthday (as he did with the Liberals).
Okay then, get on with the show
Thank yee.
'...My first proper flirtation with parliament was when I was selected to fight the formidable Alan Clark in Plymouth Sutton. Clark had gathered a controversial reputation, and not just for his history books. The allegations of his affairs with a Judge's wife and daughters were prevalent. We waged a good campaign and got some help from the national party (Incidentally, it was where I first met David Owen, then Foreign Secretary), but the national feeling had turned against Labour at that time with the Winter of Discontent, and there were concerns about my lack of connection to the area (Clark made a rather nasty point about my childhood in Belfast which I won't bring up here). He kept his seat with a mighty majority. I understood that it would happen, but I felt rather disappointed. I kept my head down for a while after that.
---
My next run in with parliament was the Darlington by-election. The previous MP, Edward Fletcher (who had served the people there for 19 years beforehand) had died at the age of 72, opening up his seat. I felt rather uneasy about seeking it, as there would've been questions about residency as my wife and I had only lived in Durham since 1981. There was also fears about the SDP, as the Alliance had just scored a major victory in Bermondsy, securing one of the largest swings on record. After consulting with my friend and future ally Cherie Blair (whose husband Tony had recently become a councillor in Hackney), I decided to stand. I faced stiff competition from Oswald 'Ossie' O'Brien, a local teacher. He actually had the distinction of losing by a single vote to Edward Fletcher in a selection contest in 1966, something that he liked to bring up. He was a warm, nice man, and I felt very guilty about standing against him at the time. Nevertheless, he was gracious in his defeat, and allowed me to focus on the rest of the election.
My opponent was the then unknown Michael Fallon of the Conservative Party. He was 30 years old, and quite an ardent Thatcherite. He lambasted me for accepting an offer from Michael Foot to campaign for me, trying all the old nonsense about how I would be subservient to the Militant Tendency and such. My other opponent was Tony Cook of the SDP, who was rather weak as a candidate, as exposed by the journalist Vincent Hanna shortly before the by-election. The SDP viewed winning this by-election as very much necessary, sending out Bill Rodgers and amusingly, David Owen. Foot staked a lot of hope into the campaign, knowing that if Darlington had gone, so would he.
A pressing issue was the closure of the Shildon railway. Mrs. Thatcher had refused to intervene, causing it to fold. Norman Tebbit's bashing of the business had cost Fallon a small chunk of unsure voters who went to either Labour or the SDP, both of whom had pledged to reopen it. Darlington had whethered the storm better than its neighbours because it had coupled its industry with lighter forms of upkeep (such as tobacco). We had dealt with the issue rather well, and come the night itself, we had a very small reduction in our majority, and the Tories had went backwards massively.
Of course, I had lost it by a thin margin only a few months later during the nightmare election of 1983. Cherie (Now the newly elected member for Burnley) called me shortly after the result had been declared, saying what a shame it was that I had been 'booted out' of parliament.
[Taken from 'Career of Paddy Ashdown', TheWebWiki article]
1979 Plymouth Sutton Result
Alan Clark (C) - 50.5%
Paddy Ashdown (L) - 40.2%
J. Scannell (LB) - 9.3%
1983 Darlington by election Result
Paddy Ashdown(L) - 43.9%
Michael Fallon (C) - 30.1%
Anthony Cook (SDP) - 25.2%
1983 Darlington Result
Michael Fallon (C) - 40.1%
Paddy Ashdown (L) - 39.8%
Ray Dutton (SDP) - 20.0%
1985 Tyne Bridge by election Result
Paddy Ashdown (L) - 60.2%
Rod Kenyon (SDP) - 30.1%
Jacqui Lait (C) - 8.5%
---
'allo allo
'ola
Que Paso?
Como pueden observar - no, we're not doing this.
Anyway, as you can see, this is about Paddy Ashdown.
I can ascertain that. It's the little subtitle I'm wondering about...
What, you mean 'The story of the Rt. Honourable Paddy Ashdown's goverment'?
Yes, that one. It's pretty...spoilery, isn't it?
Ah, yes. Well, Ashdown's premiership is going to be quite important to the 'story', as it is.
Speaking of, why's he Labour?
As he talks about here, Ashdown only says he 'became' a Liberal/liberal due to a conversation with a rather chipper canvasser. The PoD here is that the canvasser trips before seeing the Ashdown household, moving on as he gets up. Getting Ashdown back into Labour is a bit tricky, but I'll use a wee bit of handwaving and assume he rejoins Labour on his birthday (as he did with the Liberals).
Okay then, get on with the show
Thank yee.
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