Dismore claims he is Ken’s man… but what about Tom?
FORMER MP Andrew Dismore has staked his claim to the role fighting Brian Coleman at the next London Assembly elections with a letter to all Labour members in the Barnet and Camden constituency.
Promising “remorseless and innovate campaigning”, Dizzy claims that Ken Livingstone, the ex–Mayor himself, wants him for the unenviable assignment. This boast of support, however, has not gone down well in the Camden wing of the constituency where hip and trendy (NB: he has a neverending supply of T4 presenter check shirts) former council candidate Tom Copley also wants to take up the challenge.
Copley was one of the architects of Labour’s council election victories last year. He then worked closely with Livingstone on the campaign to see off Oona King for the mayoral candidacy, coming up with the inspirational slogan ‘Yes We Ken’.
With links like that to the want-to-be-Mayor-again, it’d be interesting to see Ken asked outright whether he wants Dismore – or Copley – to stand against his old rival Coleman. I didn’t he think he did endorsements of this nature, but if he swings this way again soon I’ll be sure to put it to him.
Excerpt from Dismore’s letter to members:
Why I can beat Brian Coleman for Labour
Brian Coleman, the GLA member for Barnet and Camden, is the second biggest Conservative scalp in London after the Mayor, Boris Johnson. We must give ourselves the best possible chance of taking his seat, which should never have been won by the Tories in the first place. To win, we need the candidate with that very best chance of maximising the Labour vote across both Barnet and Camden.
I believe I am that candidate. So does Ken Livingstone. Frank Dobson MP, Glenda Jackson MP and many others have endorsed me as their preferred candidate: For more details about me, please visit my website www.andrewdismore.org.uk
Having fought 8 elections for Labour in local government and Parliament, and with 4 council and 3 parliamentary victories in a marginal seat to my credit, I am approaching this selection contest with the seriousness it deserves- and next year’s election too, if I am selected.
I want to stand to win. And I believe together, we can win. The Conservative majority is 5.4%. In 1997, I overturned a Conservative majority 3 times that to win Hendon for Labour. I have the track record of experience, energy and enthusiasm to do the same again for Barnet and Camden, so we can see the back of Coleman once and for all.
I have a high profile with voters, not just in Hendon but beyond, especially in our opponent’s Barnet heartlands. My hard campaigning reputation throughout the London Labour Party and with the trades unions will attract substantial help and support in the battle to come.
..and so on and so on..
Richard Osley 
Dismore back as a candidate? Oh dear, consider this.
I have campaigned for the Green Party in Camden in 2 local elections. While canvasing, we meet other parties. For the Kentish Town by-election such encounters were cordial with mutual wishes of good luck, for instance with Cllr Meric Apak and his team. Then came Mr. Dismore whose parliamentary candidature I have actively supported in the past through the London Cypriot community.
During the K.T by-election we came across each other canvassing. I said, good to see you. He snapped, what I was doing there. I answered, surprised, participating in the democratic life of my borough. He replied, ‘I dont see why you bother’. In my experience, such an attitude had elements of the BP’s rhetoric, that is how it felt.
Perhaps understandably, I resented this and found myself musing on his record; the verdict was, he is not fair. He, more than any other person in Labour, should know the efforts of our community to establish itself, the support it has given him, and especially its social customs. After loosing his seat in 2009, the least he might have done was to reflect how his attitude contributed to his defeat. No chance.
I would suggest that such a self-absorbed approach to politics is unhelpful for any party. As a Camden-born individual and a member of one of London’s ethnic communities, I hope Labour and Ken Livingstone will select an appropriate candidate.
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Ah, a touch of “candidate’s delusion”. “- overturned a majority three times that in 1997”. No that was Tony Blair. You might have been a great candidate but Labour won candidate on a massive following wind behind TB. That wind hasb’t yet whipped up behind Ed M
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with all due respect to the author of this blog, and the subsequent comments.
hendon is tory heartland – and that is what you will need to win to regain the GLA seat . i accept that credit for 1997, much of that must have been down to the blair effect.
but – keeping hold of hendon for thirteen years and then only losing it by 106 votes – good mp and should not be disrespected for that.
neighbouring harrow east or finchley & golders green faced the same circumstances and similar electorate makeup, but they got battered.
i received my letter from dismore this morning in the post and this man is no angel. but he will be able to beat the tories, and thats what we need.
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I think we have here two communities Dimore targeted in his former constituency, London’s Greek Cypriot and Jewish communities. As a member of the former (and an empathiser with the latter), I have followed his rise from 1997 when I was a columnist for a weekly British Cypriot paper. Mr Dismore, in my experience, gradually shed any social skills he may have had. We now have a rather sour loser and from what I saw, bitter towards his constituents and own party.
We all need a break and I am certain he and Labour would benefit if he withdrew from politics. A new career in PR is not recommended.
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