Glenda’s five reasons to vote Labour

On my trip up to London yesterday, I picked up a copy of the Camden New Journal which is one of those papers you find in boxes free for anyone to take. It also probably gets posted through the door of anyone living in Camden borough, which also includes a large chunk of central London. In it there’s a piece in which local candidates for the three main parties are invited to give good reasons for voting for them.

The local Labour candidate is Glenda Jackson, the former actress. This extract’s a hoot.

Please don’t reject the Labour Party because of its current leader. The Party is more than an individual.

It’s the courage of Neil Kinnock, the integrity of John Smith, the intellect of Robin Cook, the strength of John Prescott and the social passion of Gordon Brown. Ours is a party of enduring value and these are why a vote for Labour won’t be wasted.

Of the five men mentioned, one has been dead for more than ten years (late leader John Smith), one is no longer an MP but is a European Commissioner (Kinnock), one resigned from the cabinet because of his disagreement with the Iraq war, but even before that is said to have considered the first Labour government’s so-called ethical foreign policy a millstone (Robin Cook), and one whose “strength” was demonstrated to someone who threw an egg at him (Prescott).