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For those that are unaware, there is a by-election happening in Hyde Newton due to the "sad loss" (TMBC Talk) of
Cllr. Margaret Oldham. The date has been called for the 5th of February 2008, those wishing to stand must apply before this Friday (09/01/2009). Details are available at this page.
The Labour Party have selected their candidate, Philip Fitzpatrick (Pictured). Now if the name rings a bell, it should as he is the brother of Godley councillor, Jim Fitzpatrick. His dad, now an Alderman of the borough is Joe Fitzpatrick who also stood in the Hyde Newton Ward. Tameside Council must be a generation game for the Fitzpatricks, and Cllr. John Taylor obviously sees the funny side of this when on his homepage he said he had been helping out leafleting and canvassing in the ward accompanied with a picture of Tamsin Dunwoody. Her campaign for the parliamentary seat of Crewe and Nantwich was disastrous, so it's a bad omen if nothing else.
Labour have also got in the game of blogging by launching the "Labour for Newton" by-election campaign blog. The most recent post is a message of support from Stalybridge and Hyde MP, James Purnell. Philip may have the "support" of the local MP, but does he with the council leader, whose wife was the former councillor for the ward? We hear that Cllr. Roy Oldham was seen arguing in public with Cllr. Jim Fitzpatrick over the selection of Philip for Newton.
We also hear that Philip was also preselected by the Hyde Labour Party if Margaret was to be eventually ousted. The papers calling for a by-election were postdated for the 31st of December, but the borough solicitor sent them out at 6:30PM on Christmas Eve! Many speculate that this was done to throw off other parties whilst the Labour Party got themselves in gear. However, at the Mafia we have been told that this isn't the case. The deed was done quickly to prevent any other members from the Stalybridge and Hyde Labour Party from objecting to the selection of Philip.
During the Hyde Newton by-election we will have plenty of stories to highlight of the nepotism within Tameside Labour and Tameside Council. In time we will provide our by-election analysis and we also hope to bring you more live blogging at the count.
Wednesday, 7 January 2009
Nepotism for Newton
For those that are unaware, there is a by-election happening in Hyde Newton due to the "sad loss" (TMBC Talk) of
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