As I understand it, Labour party members, will be meeting to discuss whether or not Mark Nottingham has somehow brought the party into disrepute , I have to say this sounds a bit far-fetched since my impression of Mark is one of a rather puritanical practitioner of labour politics, basically its a choice between Kay Dark, with Labour Party's old boys and hard working Cllr Nottingham with honest commitment.
It will be of some interest to see if Clive Hart can justify, his position or credibility and convince anyone other that himself and pals have acted in a fair manner with regard to the selection process in the Northwood Ward, I myself am in no doubt that Mark is indeed a hard-working conscientious political activist, an asset to any party, it's just a pity he supports Labour and not the more inclusive Liberal Democrats.
Labour activists should be worried in as much as it looks as if the leadership have boxed themselves into a corner and I'm not quite sure how they will get out of it since Clive Hart told everyone that he would resign if Mark Nottingham were he to remain in the Thanet group, which he has, at this point also it seems clear given the documentary evidence, that he will be found to have acted in the interests of the party.
Whatever your political persuasion it would seem that personal ambition has resulted in a messy diversion from the issues that labour presumably will wish to be pursuing during the forthcoming local council elections.
Anyway some time tomorrow, we will know whether Labour will be going into the May elections with a clean slate, or a lot of excess baggage.
Too good for Labour or anyone else
ReplyDelete13 pages = Nut + Case ??
Ooops! Almost missed the red link to the documents. Just off to read them now. I may be some time...
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ReplyDeleteI got this email last night too, recently joined the Labour party and recently moved to Northwood, Not sure what i've let myself in for!
ReplyDeleteSomeone bothered to write all those pages about this issue. I couldn't be bothered. Mark is a nice guy but I wont miss him I expect Clive is as well but I wont miss him, in fact the whole darn lot are off of my Christmas list. I am though with it all.
ReplyDeleteVery difficult now to see how Labour locally can come up with a completely clean sheet in time for the election.
ReplyDeleteIf Mark Nottingham is found guilty of bringing the party into disrepute there will be howls of stitch up.
If he is not found guilty then there will be calls for is reinstatement and the question as to why he was deselected in the first place will remain. There is also much confusion in the ranks even in the local party's hierachy.
Whilst Cllr. Poole claims the matter has been throughly investigated, Cllr. Green states on his blog that it is being investigated so he cannot comment. Can't both be right.
Meantime, Cllr. Nottingham is quietly stacking up the brownie points as the good hard working representative of the people adding nothing to the slurs on the leadership. All very well, but it was his dissertation on his blog (far too long to be anything less) that blew the lid of the whole business in the first place. It is also his brother-in-law still stirring the pot in letters to the local rag.
It really needs a major clear out, Will Scobie for leader and some good new candidates.
Where is Iris in all this, she is keeping her head down along with the dinasaurs,Hart is still the leader, Nottingham is still in the Group, 01:34 is quite right and this brings Poole ito the murky business of this Labour Group, time for a complete clean sweep, it is important they now get their house in order before May, any way a "silent" Iris is after all not a bad thing.
ReplyDeleteOh boy what a mess. He undoubtedly has more damning material available and is far too astute a political animal to let a bunch of backswoods amateurs win in the long run. Local Tories, who after all had their own Night of the Long Knives quite recently (they are just better at covering it up and probably don't keep such detailed records either)must be laughing all the way to four more years of ineptitude.
ReplyDeleteMy bet is Cllr Nottingham will be out the group by the end of the evening...
ReplyDeleteCllr Kay Dark will be laughing all the way to the bank with money for old rope...
Tories will use the outcome to their maximum advantage...
And the Local Labour party will be rotten to the core with no credibility as they approach the elctions...
Confused in Thanet.
ReplyDeleteActually Cllr Nottingham asked people in his Ward Not to write to the papers as that would have given ammo to Clive's gang - If they could prove a link, he could have been put out of the party for inciting others to speak against another candidate in his Ward.
And so what if his brother-in-law wrote in his defence. Good on him for doing so. Plus it was all true which is more than can be said of the smears from the other side.
Cllr Nottingham was damned either way.
Cllr Hart didn't mention that one of the complaints against Mark was from Mrs Clive Hart did he?
Anon 02:39
ReplyDeleteIris would be a better leader than Clive, I know that's not saying a lot), but she would keep the Labour group in order as they wouldn't be able to get a word in edgeways to start a squabble!
Actually, when she engages brain she can be a formidable woman. She just has to stop succumbing to the charms of Hart and his buddies
09:20 you are correct Iris is a formidable person regrettably her rhetoric is all based on how wonderful she was and all that she says she did during her time in office, she is stuck in a time wharp.
ReplyDeleteThere is no doubt she is a better leader than Hart, but so would Dark be, or anyone, we we all wait to see the outcome of the Investigation, that(his masters voice) Poole said he completed but that statement also seems to be a bit of a "porky"role on May 5th
In my opinion Mark Nottingham was right to bring it into the open. He had tried for several months behind closed doors to resolve the issue but when you are facing a 'pack mentality', there is no way through.
ReplyDeleteClive Hart and Alan Poole have always said there is no way Mark Nottingham will be standing in these elections. They needed him discredited to further their personal ambitions and were prepared to do the dirty. Kay the fool was their tool.
Only a small amount of the evidence has been shown here. As a Labour party member I have seen much more.
I no longer have any respect for the Labour leadership in Thanet.
It beggars belief that they think they will get away with this behaviour.
They have destroyed the reputation of the party locally themselves. Mark Nottingham is simply their scapegoat.
No one can justify choosing someone with the record of Kay Dark over a hard working councillor. The local party will be poorer for the loss of his knowledge and goodwill. I am appalled. This is not the Labour party which I joined.
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ReplyDelete09.03 Alan Poole lied? ,surely not, he said that he had investigated the matter!!!, oh dear oh dear Mark we are all sorry for you, Hart and his gang have behaved very badly and your Party and Group are poorer as a result. Hart has no credibility and the sooner he is removed the better for all, he can then spend his time swimming and "having a thought"
ReplyDeleteMark don't give up
DOES ANYONE KNOW THE FINAL OUTCOME IS MARK STILL IN COUNCIL IS HART STILL LEADER, TIME TO COME CLEAN AND SHARE THE OUTCOME
ReplyDeleteThe outcome?
ReplyDeleteHas never been in doubt
I predict
One good man down
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ReplyDeleteI removed one comment and have edited another
ReplyDeletefrom Anon 9 03 The investigation was completed last night. I say 'investigation', kangaroo court would be a better description. As predicted it was a stitch up with a number of those present very unhappy with the outcome. Clive's gang outnumbered the others. Mark was still not allowed to present his evidence. Clive's gang have hardened their hearts and their pride means they will never acknowledge how wrong they are even though the evidence against them is threatening to drown the lot of them. I for one am glad at least some is now on the internet.
Sat Mar 19, 09:03:00 AM
Tony,
ReplyDeleteI saw the comments which you removed.
You need not fear. I too have seen the evidence via a large number of email attachments and it is a fact.
Certain people are telling 'porkie pies'
The truth is out there.
5 47 your analysis is likely to be correct however I have to be fair, and if a comment is anon, I'm left holding the baby, should that be itself a porky
ReplyDeleteLabour cannot sort this out. They are in too deep and so will hang on as the ship goes down.
ReplyDeleteHope Ian Driver who is replacing Cllr nottingham is not another 'yes' man but fear he will have to be with Ms Dark standing alongside him. If I was him I'd be asking to stand in another Ward rather than be saddled with her.
Actually no, if I was him I'd be distancing myself from the party altogether and preserving my reputation.
Ian Driver? If its the Ian Driver I think it is then he won't take too kindly to having been used as a pawn in their underhand manoeuvrings. His reputation and credibility, if it is him, is very important in the job he does.
ReplyDeleteAs in CAB? That's the only local one I found on google.
ReplyDeleteSurely he'd be a fool to associate himself with the Hart and Poole brigade? Very damaging.
And I'd have though you would need to be seen to be politically neutral and unbiased in his job.
I can see what Labour gets out of him but don't see what he gets in return, apart from Ms Dark!
Such a shame, a hard working councilor ousted by his own party. Clive Hart is a disgrace, not a chance was given to cllr Nottingham. Not allowed to present evidence. It is clear to all that he was stitched up and thrown out as he was a threat to Hart. Its about time all the evidence was in the public domain and we decide who is right and wrong. Pack mentality within Labour Thanet at the moment, headed up by Hart. I support Labour but I'd rather have the Tory Laura Sandys in compared to Hart and thats saying something for someone who has supported labour for 23 Years. Time for change and shake-up. Lets see the evidence and oust Hart and have Nottingham re-instated!
ReplyDeleteAnon 1.40
ReplyDeleteI agree with your sentiments. I'd also say its not just about the stitching up. There's clearly ongoing bullying to silence him.
Political manoeuvring and ousting goes on all the time in politics but the difference here is that you have two councillors who are such polar opposites and there can be no justification for keeping a lazy one and getting shot of a hardworking one when as a political party you claim to be serving the people of Thanet and in particular the people of Northwood Ward. I'm sure some of those people will have something to say when the lists are published in a couple of weeks and I will personally speak to people I know in Northwood to set the record straight as to why their previous councillor is no longer standing.
Well, Well, Oh dearie me! Michael Child has just put up a post on his site called 'What do I know', http://thanetonline.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteIt links to an email exchange which really shows Kay Dark in a very poor light.
And Clive Hart knew about the problem and has turned a blind eye to her conduct. Shameful.
No wonder they wanted Mark out, how dare he try and raise standards!
Email exchange is best read from bottom upwards to make full sense...
Read it and agree with you 11:07 that it does not do much for Ms Dark's case. There is something really strange here that I am sure none of us have yet got to as to why she is preferred over Mark Nottingham.
ReplyDeleteTheories about Mark being a threat to Hart and Poole ambitions or Kay Dark being a close friend of local Labour hierachy are just that, theories or speculation.
One wonders if the real truth will ever out, but what is disgraceful is that the electorate look like not being told before they vote.
Clive has previously been very pompous about his 'unblemished' record but again as someone else said somewhere, so I can't take the credit, 'Methinks he doth protest too loudly'.
ReplyDeleteA number of people have commented asking the question what hold does Kay Dark have over Clive Hart and I think that's the crux of the issue.
I believe he is afraid of Ms Dark carrying out her threat to 'cross the floor', i.e. join the Conservatives. Not because she'd be politically dangerous in opposition but personally dangerous to his reputation as I believe she knows something about him which he'd rather she didn't.
Perhaps we should check their respective DNAs?
ReplyDeleteI can see that your all not happy with whats been going on in Northwood with regards to labour, I know this will get your backs up lol but im a conservative supporter, I also know Mark Mulvihill and Jenny Hudson who are both new faces to the party, but I also know that they mean business, and should they get in I know they will do there best for Northwood, try them, if you dont like then you can vote then back out in 4 years.
ReplyDelete