Labour rank and file reject candidate bid of entitled, unqualified second generation New Labourite:
Georgia Gould, whose mother, Gail Rebuck, is the head of Random House publishers, caused consternation among the rank and file in the solid Labour seat of Erith and Thamesmead in south-east London, when she launched her bid to replace the sitting MP, John Austen, who is standing down at the next election.
At a secret hustings last night, Ms Gould’s brutal introduction to the rough world of local politics ended in defeat.
[…]
Oxford graduate Ms Gould had been accused of attempting to parachute into a safe seat through her impeccable New Labour credentials.
Her father, Lord Gould, was given his peerage by Mr Blair for his role in helping to found New Labour: there are photos of Neil Kinnock, the former Labour leader, bouncing Ms Gould on his knee when she was a baby. Her mother is a close friend of the Blairs. Eyebrows were also raised when Alastair Campbell and Tessa Jowell lent Ms Gould their public support.
Four years ago Gould would’ve won this candidacy, no matter how the rank and file felt about it. But with the sliding fortunes of New Labour in the past few years generally and the ongoing revelations about corruption in Parliament especially, the local Labour Party sensibly decided, safe seat or not, having somebody with no other qualifications but her name as a candidate was not a good idea. It could’ve been a reverse Portillo moment at the next election otherwise. Of course the winner of the hustings, Teresa Pearce, isn’t that great either, having been a “tax expert with PricewaterhouseCoopers”…