Could a junior doctor be the next MP for Sedgefield?

That is what Vicky Ford is wondering.  A junior doctor campaigning against Labour's NHS record could win the seat Tony Blair is about to vacate but only if the other parties give him or her a free run.  Intriguing thought.

9.45pm update: Graham Robb selected for Sedgefield

Comments

[North Cornwall Tory]

Cameron should go for it and allow Labour to get a bloody nose. I understand a Doctor is also going to stand in the Truro and Falmouth seat on the sane agenda, as it has been announced that the Royal Cornwall Hospital is the worst run in the Country.
Conservatives are split and in very bad way in Cornwall and no other Party has yet picked their Candidates because of volatility in Cornish Politics. On this basis Candidates on a NHS agenda stand a very good chance.

[bluepatriot]

I agree with North Cornwall Tory.

[Andrew Kennedy]

I am sorry if I sound like a luddite, but I could not disagree more with the first two posters on this thread.

Conservative voters have a right to vote for Conservative candidates in every constituency.

We do not own our support base, and we have no right to "barter" their vote for our some short term (cynical) political advantage. Remember how we reacted when the LibDems and Labour Parties did this in Tatton in 1997.

[David Cooper]

While there is an argument that times have changed, in the context of a former PM moving on immediately to a major international role, it remains illustrative of the man's contempt for Parliament that he seizes the opportunity to flee the Commons as soon as he has stepped down. (Is there a precedent from recent history at all - certainly not Major, Thatcher, Callaghan, Wilson or Heath.) This might be a further point for the hypothetical junior doctor to argue, even in the face of the donkey with red rosette scenario that he would be facing in Sedgfield.

[ACT]

Actually, if all we wanted Labour was to lose this seat, the best thing to do would be to find a credible anti-war candidate.

[Comstock]

"Actually, if all we wanted Labour was to lose this seat, the best thing to do would be to find a credible anti-war candidate."

From a party that supported the war, that would be one of the most shameless pieces of opportunism ever. Any half decent anti-war campaigner should tell you where to shove it.

Of course if you would support AV, there would be no need for all this 'standing aside'

[Evan Price]

Though it may be tempting to give a 'free' run to some junior doctor, the temporary political advantage is outweighed by the problems.

One of the problems is that it could be portrayed as us having so little belief in our own platform that we are prepared to give a 'one-issue' candidate the free run.

Another is that it would disenfranchise local conservatives, both voters and activists at a time when we need to be supporting and encouraging them.

My view is that a strong Conservative candidate needs to be chosen; and the choice needs to be on the basis of the character and potential of the candidate, not on the basis of the candidate's personal views on a single issue.

[Tory T]

I agree with Andrew. Our candidate in Truro & Falmouth is Sarah Newton, who was selected in an open primary. She will campaig strongly on the NHS and deserves the support of all true Conservatives. We're here to get Labour out of government, and fix their mistakes in every department, not to be a single-issue pressure group.

[richard]

But the fact is Conservative Candidates are not making a big enough issue about the waste and damage, Labour has done to the NHS.
Cameron and his Prima Donna A list Candidates are not proving to be the salt of the earth Politicians.
I remember reading last year that NHS Doctors were going to stand in a number of Seats where the Local Hospital was not meeting Expectations. So this should not come as a surprise. I also recall that Cornwall was a Hit area. Looking at what Sarah Newton has done in the last year is another example of very little at all, except soundbites and a not so pretty picture in the Press.
Let the real politics flow and let the doctors stand, -there is past precedent of their success.

[Jennifer Wells]

If we do not get behind an all party pro-NHS candidate our own candidate must make it a principal campaign issue.

[Lindsay Jenkins]

Times are changing and many people are more interested in issues than voting for a political party only to be told they have endorsed a huge manifesto of policies which they haven’t read and may not agree with. Tribal voting is on the way out with considerable ramifications for the Conservative Party - has the leadership even begun to think this through? I doubt it.

So to have a doctor stand on an NHS platform in Sedgefield or Cornwall makes a lot of sense.

While having sympathy for the purists on this thread who say that voters should be able to vote Tory that may not be good politics notably in Cornwall where Conservative is a dirty word.

[Tory T]

Sorry but that's a load of old tosh. I just googled sarah newton truro and her website came up, top issue the NHS, clearly she is campaigning hard, there are a bunch of other local campaigns on the website

http://www.trurofalmouthconservatives.co.uk/

If Cornwall is tough territory, so are parts of the North. We don't just pack it in, we fight and rebuld our base. Did you notice the last opinion poll gave the LibDems just 12%? We have a real chance in Truro and everywhere else we face LibDem opposition. Truro & Falmouth voters deserve to support a candidate who will fight not just for the local NHS but for all the other issues in the constituency.

[Tory T]

Well I did that thing with the a space href and the triangular brackets and it looked like a link but does not work, so copy paste

http://www.trurofalmouthconservatives.co.uk/

[Mrs Campbell]

There is at least one high quality junior doctor candidate on the Tory list - Dr Philip Lee who fought Blaenau Gwent at the 2005 general election. So, we wouldn't need to stand aside.......

[carolA9]

It is so distressing to read that Tory is a dirty word in Cornwall. I cannot believe it is true for the whole Duchy but it is most certainly true in Falmouth, Camborne, Redruth and to a lesser extent Truro and St. Austell. I am afraid though that the leadership of the Party only have themselves to blame. Only recently Francis Maude said there would be no amnesty for the members who were treated so badly in 2004. I am not sure the members want an amnesty but it was an arrogant silly position to adopt by the Chairman in answer to a very civil question. Now one of these sacked members has been elected INDEPENDENT Mayor of Falmouth inspite of being courted desperately by Conservative Councillors to rejoin the Party. Presumably the Party Chairman was unaware of this courtship. In fact only 2 Conservatives were elected out of 11 seats to the local district council for Falmouth. A drop of 2 since the last District Council Elections in 2003. Whereas 3 Independents were elected. All 3 Independents had another sacked member as their Agent. They all topped the Poll in their Ward with a huge majority. The situation in Falmouth is polarised. The sacked members have not obliged the Party by joining UKIP because they are not UKIP supporters, in spite of being sacked for being supporters of the daft UKIP, so until the Party act positively Sarah Newton will not win and an NHS candidate will be an ideal respository for hundreds, if not thousands of disillusioned Conservative voters.

[Paul Kennedy]

In 2005 I notice Mr Blair polled 59% of the vote (24,421) on a 62% turnout, the Conservative came second with 5,972 votes, L/D was third with 4,935 and the chap whose son was killed in Iraq was got 4,252 votes.

[Teck Khong]

With such strong feeling running through this thread, could we engage someone who has worked as a doctor in the NHS for 25 years, held some key posts, knows all the flaws in the NHS and virtually everything that is needed to restore the integrity of our health system, has the respect of colleagues and patients alike everywhere, who fought in the GE of 2005, and even has the ingredient to meet the much vaunted diversity pledge of the Conservatives?

[Simon Harris]

Whatever happened to the Sedgefield selection they were due to select just after the May elections - and then it got pulled - don't know why. Then what happened?

[anon]

CCHQ is nagging people to spend a week campaigning in Sedgefield which must be the greatest waste of time ever. So I agree - let's give an independent doctor a free run.

[richard]

Doctors are under extreme pressure not to engage in Politics through fear of losing their Jobs. I hope this is not the policy of Camerons Conservatives.
Remedy/uk are very concious of this and naturally the backs of Doctors are being got up, because of this political pressure.
It is possible that the Sedgefield Doctor will be put under the thumb screws by Labour, not to stand.
Reading the blogs above, the matter is getting very heated in Truro, and perhaps the Conservatives will put pressure on the Doctor Candidate when he/she is announced for the Truro Seat.
I have managed with difficulty to get on to the Truro Conservatives website, but have found very little about the conservative PPC which would get me excited. Just lip service.
Scrutinising the local papers I read that the "The Former Conservative - Now Independent Mayor of Falmouth" was supporting the Falmouth Hospital last week. Alas there was no sign of the Conservative PPC Sarah Newton offering her support.
I think in these circumstances Local Consultants have the right to go for it-conservatives call it Democracy or first past the post.

[bulldozer]

Any truth in the rumour that Nigel 'Can't get arrested at a demonstration' Farage (UKIP) is going to fight (well, you know)the by-election.

[Ashton]

we could always hold a primary of our supporters in the constituency to see if they support the idea, and then if the liberals agree through whatever measure they would like to use, then we should go for it.

[Dr Alan Smith]

I managed to have a look on the Truro website as suggested above, to see what the problem is and I did notice a photograph of Sarah Newton looking like a Twenty Year old Girl. When I saw her in London recently she gave me the impression she was nearly 50 Years old. A check on her age shows she is in her mid 40s.
Surely websites must portray the truth.
It is no wonder a Truro Doctor is going to stand with the backing of "is" it conservatives.

[Tory T]

Dr, that is a pathetic and a sexist remark, of which you ought to be thoroughly ashamed.

Sarah Newton goes to her local hospital and is photographed outside it campaigning, as the NHS is her top issue. It's a recent photograph. Just because you think it makes her look young doesn't mean anything except perhaps that she takes a good photograph. There are plenty of recent photos of the candidate on her website as she is out campaigning on various issues NHS and otherwise.

How lame to be asking the woman to campaign on the NHS and when it's pointed out that she already is to start complaining that she looks too good.

How old are you, doctor, and does it affect your medical competency?

I'm glad to see our candidate getting out there and photographed getting her hands dirty on the issues and it's good she's at her local hospital as her top concern.

[Editor]

I'm closing this thread. It's getting mean.