Don Touhig to stand down
Bubble — By Daran Hill on January 30, 2010 10:56 am
Ding, Don... Big Ben won't be in the background for much longer for one of Wales' most prominent MPs
It was not for nothing that in 2007, as part of the panel, we named him Most Outspoken Politician in the AM PM awards. Love him or loathe him – and bubble dwellers are never neutral on this issue either – the Member of Islwyn has been impossible to ignore.
In that respect he has been a most fitting successor to Neil Kinnock, whom he replaced at a very wet by-election in 1995. Wet, of course, in terms of weather not in terms of political direction. Don Touhig is as dry as they come: he is no wet consensus player. For many in Welsh Labour he has been the most articulate and fiery champion of their perspectives. His politics, deeply rooted in the native county he represents, has never been supportive of additional powers to the Assembly and has never reconciled to the current One Wales agreement between Labour and Plaid.
But, then again, Plaid has always held a particularly passionate dislike of Islwyn MPs too. For Kinnock read Touhig. Now that he’s leaving they’ll need to find a new uber-hate figure to replace him. Perhaps the Labour selectors in Islwyn might yet oblige. After all, it is probably the Labour seat with the highest concentration of True Wales supporters. It is not a land of compromise. The Assembly elections there in 1999, when Plaid made a shock gain, and in 2003 when Irene James AM won it back for Labour with a crushing swing, were the mini-Stalingrads of Assembly elections.
So now Welsh Labour has another selection contest to run. Don Touhig follows John Smith MP, Betty Williams MP, Alan Williams MP, Martyn Jones MP and Kim Howells MP in deciding not to fight another day. What unites him particularly with the last two is that the Labour AMs for the same seats are also departing too in 2011. Thus Clwyd South is saying goodbye to both Jones and Karen Sinclair AM, and Pontypridd is losing Howells and Jane Davidson AM. But in both of those seats one selection had been completed before the next one started. In Islwyn, the race to choose the successor to Irene is not yet finished and now Labour Party members are being asked to choose a second new candidate. One wily friend has already bemoaned to me the lack of synchronicity in Islwyn, where “selection fatigue” may be a factor in coming weeks and months.
Don Touhig leaves the elected stage in a manner of his own choosing. But don’t expect him to leave the political stage. Somehow I think he has more to say on some very key issues. He will remain outspoken for some years to come. And that’s the way everyone likes him, isn’t it? Even Plaid.
Tags: 2010 General Election, candidate selection, devolution, Don Touhig, Welsh Labour
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7 Comments
where is the “I like this” button?
With the MP’s expenses scandal, he was one of the most vocal in favour of keeping their expenses secret from the public. Good riddance.
Is is true that Labour will insist on all-women shortlists for the vacancies? Don’t think that will go down well at all. Could be another Blaenau Gwent situation.
D Hughes – Certainly not for all vacancies. In terms of retiring MPs, women have been selected to succeed men in both Clwyd South and Vale of Glamorgan, though the latter may have had an all women shortlist, I think. A man has been selected to succeed a man in Swansea West, and a man to succeed a woman in Conwy. Both Pontypridd and now Islwyn have yet to complete their selection procedures and I’m unclear as to the situation in the former, while the latter has yet to determine its selection mechanism.
As ever, people are free to correct me where I’m wrong as this is all from memory.
Talking of memory, the tweeting of a little bird entirely slipped mine when I wrote this blog post earlier. Betsan has now reminded us of her prophecy in a timely update:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/betsanpowys/2010/01/one_two.html
And revealed the name of the Third Man, to boot.
Lets hope that they get an enlightened replacement, maybe even a woman.
Clwyd South was definitely an all Woman shortlist
I wonder whether the next Islwyn MP will ever answer any messages from me? The present incumbent doesn’t have a good record (in fact, for the record, present score is 0)
It will be interesting to see what standard of candidate the Labour party pick this time. Whilst I have no complaints about Irene James AM personally, I understand that she was not highly regarded at the Assembly (especially by the Western Mail!). If she was the pick of the available talent for the Assembly, will the Parliamentary candidate be much better regarded?
With the current attitude towards MPs after the expenses fiasco, and the general low ebb of the Labour Party, one wonders whether there will be much choice for selection.