Miliband hopes to snatch Corby seat from Tories
There is no date set, but that did not stop Ed Miliband campaigning in Corby with a vow to make unemployment the key issue in the by-election to replace Tory MP Louise Mensch.
The Labour leader paid a visit to the Corby and East Northamptonshire constituency hoping to snatch the seat from the Conservatives. The Tories are facing a difficult challenge to retain Ms Mensch’s seat, with the Conservatives at a low ebb in the polls.
Labour had held the constituency since 1997 before Ms Mensch won by 1,951 votes in the 2010 general election. Mr Miliband was to expected to tell voters how he planned to “build an economy that works for working people”.
‘Wasted’ Tory years
Candidate Andy Sawford was also out pitching for votes in what is expected to be a November by-election.
“Labour is now looking forward to the campaign ahead, fighting for action on jobs and the economy, supporting our local services, which are facing massive cuts, and working with local community organisations,” Mr Sawford said.
“During the by-election we will focus on the two wasted years of Tory policies that have taken the country back into recession and left Corby suffering job losses in both the public and private sector,” he added.
Mensch in the spotlight
As for mother-of-three Louise Mensch, there was no sign of her and no words – at least not on television. But her decision to step down and move to the US with her family has propelled her and her vacant constituency seat into the public spotlight.
The chick-lit author turned Tory MP has gained about 70,000 followers on Twitter since Monday’s announcement, bringing her total number of followers to more than 102,000.
Ms Mensch, a one-time Labour member under Tony Blair, was not speaking to the media today, but that did not stop her sharing her stream-of-consciousness thoughts on the social networking site.
‘Impossible’ balancing act
She directed Twitter followers to read MP Tom Watson, her colleague on the culture, media and sport select committee, calling him “easily the UK’s most important political tweeter”. But Mrs Mensch dodged questions about why she did not want to be an MP or whether she was changing political allegiances – yet again.
Prime Minister David Cameron called Louise Mensch an “inspiring” MP. Her husband, band manager Peter Mensch, lives in New York and she has been forced to divide her time between the UK and US.
On Monday, Ms Mensch, one of Westminster’s most prolific Twitter-users, took to the website to tweet: “I am devastated by the necessary decision that I have had to announce today. It has been an incredible honour serving the people of Corby.
“It has, however, proved impossible to balance the needs of my family.”
