Election 2010: Does it matter if your MP's a local?

[dipsydoodle]

Disputes have flared in some areas over hand-picked "London" candidates being selected by political parties to fight seats hundreds of miles away. Does it matter where your MP comes from?

Some selections to replace outgoing MPs - even a few with "open primaries" - have sparked internal party rows if there were no local candidates on the list.

Some felt they were having candidates "parachuted in" on them by the party's HQ.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/8619315.stm

[non sociopath skin]

1. That's a matter a) for the parties b) for the individual ....

... I'd have thought.

For some, local knowledge clinches it. For others, it's about experience and skills first.

Yer pays yer taxes and yer makes yer choice ...

The Skin

[mwooldri]

2. AFAIK the Lib Dems have always sought input as to who will run for MP in a seat...

Labour have been more open than of years gone by but still HQ can drop in a candidate over the local party. Same with the Tories.

If it is a seat where the party has absolutely no hope of winning then it doesn't matter too much whether you put in a local or a candidate from London, or where-ever... if that particular person wants to be an MP, the general rule of thumb is to run for some no-hope seats and get some experience in before hoping to be selected by a local party in a winnable seat.

My home constituency of Guildford will be one to watch: it was always Conservative until the 2001 election where Sue Doughty took the seat by a small margin for the Lib Dems... and then in 2005 Ann Milton for the Conservatives took it back by an even smaller margin. There's both been boundary changes... so this will be interesting.

This election in Guildford will effectively be a re-run of 2005 - Sue Doughty was re-selected for the Lib Dems, Anne Milton of course is the incumbent. As for "locality" - Anne is more "local" since she was born and raised in the South, Sue though came from "up North". But in 2005 Sue fought on the fact that she actually lived in the constituency, Anne at that time did not. As much as I like Sue, I somehow think that Anne will retain the seat for the Tories (booo!!!) because she was very vocal when the government made a lot of plans to close some local hospitals... Sue was in support of re-developing a now rarely used airfield into affordable sustainable housing for the growing population - lot of NIMBYs not happy about that so there will be some hostility towards Sue for that.

[fedsron2us]

3. I can remember when the Tories could have stood a donkey in Guildford

and got it elected. Indeed, while David Howell was their MP, I believe they did.

[craigmatic]

4. As an American I don't see why they don't go the extra mile and give the constituency

the common courtesy of picking a local. Who else would know the local issues better than someone who lives there.

[Nihil]

8. Too much risk of losing central office control over MPs.

The last thing you need in a democracy is the representatives of the
people acting on behalf of their people instead of just being a
brain-dead clone that votes as directed by "the party".

(Anyone who needs a graphic icon to qualify the above needs more
exposure to the British ...)

"When in that House MP’s divide,
If they’ve a brain and cerebellum too,
They’ve got to leave that brain outside,
And vote just how their leaders tell ’em to."
("Iolanthe" - G&S)

[LeftishBrit]

5. All things being equal...

I'd prefer the local person, as they may know more about local issues. However, people from outside can too, if they do their homework. It's something that might influence me if all other issues were kept constant, but competence and policies are more important to me.

[T_i_B]

6. A local candidate is a definite advantage.

It's also important IMHO for a candidate to have a genuine love for the place and the people they wish to represent.

[Jeneral2885]

7. I thought

that all PPCs must have lived in that area before standing.

[muriel_volestrangler]

10. No, there's no requirement at all

It's even possible to stand for election in more than one seat at the same time (Lord Sutch did, I think).

[BolivarianHero]

9. Absolutely...

Blair routinely used neo-lib hacks from London (under the guise of feminism in his all-woman shortlists) to keep leftist dissidents (i.e. people who should be running for a social democratic party) from getting elected.