Chosen Ones
The Mail on Sunday is serialising a book by the former Mayor of Doncaster, Martin Winter, who took Ed Miliband under his wing in 2005 after he was asked by Gordon Brown (then Chancellor) to install him as the Labour candidate in the safe Labour seat of Doncaster North.
Now I'm not interested in all the 'he said she said' stuff, but this really is how it works in the Labour Party as well-connected often London-based 'wannabees' get preferential treatment and parachuted into safe Labour seats in other parts of the country where they have no real connections.
If you ask me, it's a strange way to run a People's Party yet it happens time and again - and very often with trade union support for the 'chosen ones'.
- Martin Winter's new memoir is a devastating indictment of Labour leader
- Former Mayor of Doncaster took Miliband into his family home in 2005
- During nine week period, the future leader almost set himself alight
- Also bought Winter prayer mat to cover scorch marks to his office carpet
- Amid farce, makes shocking confession to his host about his knowledge of the UK's crumbling economy prior to 2008 crash
Shocking: Martin Winter has revealed Ed Miliband's bombshell confession in his explosive new memoir
It's a devastating indictment of the Labour leader by the man who made him an MP. Fallout, the forthcoming book by Martin Winter, a former Labour Mayor of Doncaster, serialised here, reveals a portrait of the young Ed Miliband that would be funny were it not so shocking.
For in nine and half weeks between March and May 2005, when the Winter family took Miliband into their home and orchestrated his election as MP for Doncaster North, we see the future leader almost set himself alight, buy a prayer mat to cover scorch marks to his office carpet and be out-negotiated by the Winters’ three young children.
But amid the farce there is a bombshell confession: Miliband tells Winter that Ed Balls backed a snap General Election in 2007 because ‘the economy is going to fall off a cliff and this is our best chance of winning an Election’.
It is a revelation that Winter has no doubt will infuriate the Labour high command, but last night he vowed to face down any attempt by ‘Labour attack dogs’ to undermine his explosive revelations.
Winter said he expected Miliband’s allies to condemn him for revealing the private conversations. But he had no regrets about speaking out.
‘People are entitled to know the truth about a man who wants to be Prime Minister,’ he said. ‘My partner Carolyne and I know him better than most Labour MPs – he lived with us and we made him an MP.
‘We also know that he cannot be trusted. In 2007, he told both of us in our sitting room that the economy was going to “fall off a cliff” a year before it did – and that Labour had cynically planned an early General Election for that reason.
On the stump: Miliband and Winter meet people in Doncaster after his selection as Labour candidate in 2005‘Labour attack dogs may try to deny it – just like they did when in 2008 Alistair Darling was Chancellor and said the crash was coming. But they are wasting their time. Carolyne was present with me when Ed Miliband said it and she has been a card-carrying member of the party since she was 18.’
Winter, 52, was feted by Tony Blair and Gordon Brown after he rescued the last Labour Government’s flagship scheme to introduce US-style directly elected mayors. Blair believed they would root out town hall corruption – and nowhere was it worse than Labour-run Doncaster.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, more than 20 councillors were convicted of fraud and half a dozen were jailed in the ‘Donnygate’ scandal, one of the widest-reaching incidents of town hall corruption in British history.
Feted: Mr Winter, left, Local Government Minister Phil Woolas and Tony Blair at a town hall reform summit in 2006
In 2002, former rugby league player Winter stood for election as mayor on an anti-corruption manifesto – and won. He was invited to Downing Street and sat next to Blair at a Cabinet-style summit to reform local government.
In March 2005, then Chancellor Gordon Brown asked him to help Ed Miliband, his chief economic adviser, win Doncaster North when the sitting MP fell ill. At a secret meeting in the Treasury, Winter promised Brown he would secure the safe Labour seat for Miliband.
During the campaign, Miliband moved in with the Winter family and used their home as his base for nine and a half weeks. Miliband won with Winter’s help, going on to become Labour leader five years later.
Having been re-elected as mayor, Winter left the Labour Party and then stepped down in 2009 due to renewed infighting and a series of social services scandals in which seven children known to the council died within three years.
Family: Martin Winter, with his wife Carolyn, and children, left to right, Marcey, Joss and Beth in 1999
An Audit Commission report said Labour councillors spent more time ‘pursuing long-term political antagonisms’ than improving services.
The book Winter has now written tells how he was recruited by Labour chiefs to end corruption and feuding in Doncaster – and his success in boosting the town’s economic growth with a dynamic regeneration portfolio. The second half tells the story of his falling out with Labour as Winter’s enemies ‘tried to destroy me despite all my loyalty to the party – and to Miliband’.
ED MILIBAND'S SECRET HEADQUARTERS... IN OUR GARDEN
A day after their first phone call on March 2, 2005, Ed Miliband moved in with Mr Winter, his partner Carolyne Hunter and their three children at their home in Doncaster. He lived there for a month and carried on using the office in their garden until the 2005 General Election on May 5.
He was elected the MP for Doncaster North and said farewell two days later, posting a ‘How Sweet Is Victory’ thank-you note through Winter’s letterbox.
Campaign base: This is where Ed Miliband worked - and nearly poisoned himself - while campaigning to become an MP
It brought an end to 66 days – nearly nine and half weeks – spent as a temporary member of Mr Winter’s politically extended family. At the time, the couple’s children, Marcey, Joss and Beth, were aged ten, 11 and 14 respectively.
Miliband slept in the bottom bunk in Joss’s Manchester United-themed bedroom, with Joss moving to another room.
Ms Hunter then converted the children’s yellow and green playroom into a bedroom for their special guest. The couple also bought him a wardrobe and a bed. After a month, Miliband rented a house nearby to comply with Election rules, but he continued to use Mr Winter’s garden office as his campaign base.
He was elected the MP for Doncaster North and said farewell two days later, posting a ‘How Sweet Is Victory’ thank-you note through Winter’s letterbox.
Campaign base: This is where Ed Miliband worked - and nearly poisoned himself - while campaigning to become an MP
It brought an end to 66 days – nearly nine and half weeks – spent as a temporary member of Mr Winter’s politically extended family. At the time, the couple’s children, Marcey, Joss and Beth, were aged ten, 11 and 14 respectively.
Miliband slept in the bottom bunk in Joss’s Manchester United-themed bedroom, with Joss moving to another room.
Ms Hunter then converted the children’s yellow and green playroom into a bedroom for their special guest. The couple also bought him a wardrobe and a bed. After a month, Miliband rented a house nearby to comply with Election rules, but he continued to use Mr Winter’s garden office as his campaign base.
Holding MPs to Account (4 April 2010)
Less than 200 people may have decided who will become the next MP in East LothianBecause by 130 to 59 votes the local Labour party finally decided to ditch Anne Moffat as their candidate - after years of controversy and party in-fighting.
So, if the new person goes on to win the East Lothian seat - just 189 people will have set the whole process in motion - for good or ill.Yes, but the wider electorate still has to have their say - I hear you say - that provides an important democratic safeguard, does it not?
Yes, up to a point - but what the Anne Moffat debacle highlights is just how difficult it is to hold our MPs to account - once they have been elected into office.In reality, there's no effective mechanism for getting rid of the buggers - if you find out they're no good - or that they've been up to no good.
What happens is that they hide behind their original election victory - pretending to have a mandate from the voting public.Since the last general election, voters in East Lothian have learned a lot about Anne Moffat - which they didn't know when they elected her as their MP - for example, her ability to run up monumental expenses claims.
Yet, there was no effective way of holding her to account - and it's taken a huge effort by her own party to finally show her the door.What's needed is a right of recall for MPs - the ability of the voting public to trigger a by-election in the event of some scandal or bad behaviour by their honourable member.
Now that would keep the next intake of MPs on their toes.
So, if the new person goes on to win the East Lothian seat - just 189 people will have set the whole process in motion - for good or ill.Yes, but the wider electorate still has to have their say - I hear you say - that provides an important democratic safeguard, does it not?
Yes, up to a point - but what the Anne Moffat debacle highlights is just how difficult it is to hold our MPs to account - once they have been elected into office.In reality, there's no effective mechanism for getting rid of the buggers - if you find out they're no good - or that they've been up to no good.
What happens is that they hide behind their original election victory - pretending to have a mandate from the voting public.Since the last general election, voters in East Lothian have learned a lot about Anne Moffat - which they didn't know when they elected her as their MP - for example, her ability to run up monumental expenses claims.
Yet, there was no effective way of holding her to account - and it's taken a huge effort by her own party to finally show her the door.What's needed is a right of recall for MPs - the ability of the voting public to trigger a by-election in the event of some scandal or bad behaviour by their honourable member.
Now that would keep the next intake of MPs on their toes.
Sun Sets in the East (3225 March 2010)
The sun has finally set on the political career of Anne Moffat - ex-Unison president - and the Labour Member of Parliament for East Lothian.
Anne Moffat was parachuted into Prestonpans with the help of trade union muscle - but her greatest claim to fame lay in racking up the highest travelling expenses of any MP in Westminster in 2003 to 2004 - no mean achievement.
Here's what The Herald newspaper said back in 2007 - before the extent of the MPs' expenses scandal became public knowledge:
Published on 3 Nov 2007
"Moffat gives up fight to keep details from public"
"A Scottish Labour MP who ran up the highest travel bill of any Westminster politician has had a breakdown of her expenses published after a two-year battle for disclosure.
Anne Moffat's record bill was made up of thousands of pounds' worth of first-class rail and air fares, as well as trips to Malta and Portugal.
She is now being asked further questions about her expensive trips, particularly those to Glasgow and central London.
The landmark decision to publish the claims may open the floodgates for a spate of other revelations about MPs' allowances.
It follows a two-year fight by Green Party activist Michael Collie for publication of Moffat's travel bill.
The Labour MP was criticised after billing the taxpayer for nearly £40,000 in travel costs between 2003 and 2004, the highest claim of the year, Her huge bill led to questions being asked about the nature of her claims and prompted Collie to request more details through freedom of information (FOI) legislation.
The UK parliament's decision to refuse publication of Moffat's claims was overturned by the Information Commissioner, whose judgment was backed earlier this year by the Information Tribunal.
Westminster authorities stepped up their defiance by taking the matter to the High Court, an extraordinary move which they only backed down from last month. Collie was handed a breakdown of Moffat's expenses on Friday."
Not surprisingly ordinary Labour party members became convinced their MP was a dud - and finally decided to deselect her last week by 130 votes to 59.
Note how long and hard the parliamentary authorities fought - using large sums of public money when it suited them - to stop these details being released under the Freedom of Information Act.
Anne Moffat was parachuted into Prestonpans with the help of trade union muscle - but her greatest claim to fame lay in racking up the highest travelling expenses of any MP in Westminster in 2003 to 2004 - no mean achievement.
Here's what The Herald newspaper said back in 2007 - before the extent of the MPs' expenses scandal became public knowledge:
Published on 3 Nov 2007
"Moffat gives up fight to keep details from public"
"A Scottish Labour MP who ran up the highest travel bill of any Westminster politician has had a breakdown of her expenses published after a two-year battle for disclosure.
Anne Moffat's record bill was made up of thousands of pounds' worth of first-class rail and air fares, as well as trips to Malta and Portugal.
She is now being asked further questions about her expensive trips, particularly those to Glasgow and central London.
The landmark decision to publish the claims may open the floodgates for a spate of other revelations about MPs' allowances.
It follows a two-year fight by Green Party activist Michael Collie for publication of Moffat's travel bill.
The Labour MP was criticised after billing the taxpayer for nearly £40,000 in travel costs between 2003 and 2004, the highest claim of the year, Her huge bill led to questions being asked about the nature of her claims and prompted Collie to request more details through freedom of information (FOI) legislation.
The UK parliament's decision to refuse publication of Moffat's claims was overturned by the Information Commissioner, whose judgment was backed earlier this year by the Information Tribunal.
Westminster authorities stepped up their defiance by taking the matter to the High Court, an extraordinary move which they only backed down from last month. Collie was handed a breakdown of Moffat's expenses on Friday."
Not surprisingly ordinary Labour party members became convinced their MP was a dud - and finally decided to deselect her last week by 130 votes to 59.
Note how long and hard the parliamentary authorities fought - using large sums of public money when it suited them - to stop these details being released under the Freedom of Information Act.
