Glasgow East: where Gordon Brown was buried?

If you're a reader of blogs you'll have seen the news already. Labour's candidate selection is in utter disarray with their one and only candidate for the job simply refusing to turn up to the meeting leaving them without a candidate, which in turn has forced a cancellation of the campaign launch tomorrow. Maybe that snap election timing thing doesn't seem like such a good idea now, eh?

Cllr George Ryan (pictured) was a shoe in for a job that it turned out he didn't want - the electorate's punching bag. I've seen rumours that he was pro-Scottish independence, or that some muck had been raked, I guess the reasons will emerge (or not) in time. What's clear is this is a disaster for the Labour Party and spells an almost certain loss of the seat to the SNP.

I can't do better at this point than quote ASwaS on this;

"I do feel sorry for the Labour party, but only in the same way as you feel a little bit sorry for Shelob in Lord of the Rings when she runs away into the darkness to nurse her wounds, having failed to eat the hobbits."

By elections can be hit and miss affairs as far as fingers in the wind goes - but Labour must surely be getting the message after the last few weeks.

First they took a pasting in Crewe, then came a humiliating fifth in Henley behind both the Greens and the BNP and then they didn't even want to stand against Davis - which was understandable as their candidate was opposed to the 42 days detention proposal and they'd have been "royally boned". The best they could come up with was rushing round trying to find a proxy for their dystopian police state fantasies who they could conveniently ditch once the election was over and their purpose had been served. Step forward Jill Saward who frankly deserves better - but has chosen to stand as the candidate of increased surveillance and fear. I'll stick with Shan Oakes thanks.

We've now established that Labour MPs are too spineless to call for a leadership challenge, and if a general election was called right now Labour would utterly wiped out - no question at all. They've no money, no activists and no one likes them. Two years accruing hatred wont help matters either - if Labour wait until 2010 I'd be willing to bet they could even be overtaken by the Lib Dems in the house.

In other words Labour has a choice. The death of Brown's premiership, or the death of the Labour Party. The latter would leave me distraught, the former rather jolly, but unfortunately it looks like it doesn't matter how hard the electorate push Labour is just caught in the headlights and isn't going anywhere.