And on the sixth day, God made Leighton
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
For them, politics is like a cult. They congregate around certain figures, whom they hold in great esteem. It's almost like hero-worship. If you can call a man in a suit a hero.They are, of course, the followers - the political enforcers who will not have a word said against their man. And for some reason, don't ask me why, they tend to congregate around the right wing of the Labour party.
For England, see Blairism. For Wales, see Leightonism.
Whatever you might say about Leighton Andrews, he is first and foremost a very effective Labour assembly member for the Rhondda. He is outspoken and combative - just the type of guy the assembly needs. Perhaps followers are an inevitable consequence of strong leaders (although Mr Andrews leads nothing much yet). What's certain is that they exist, and they put themselves about.
Let's take for example, David Taylor, Mr Andrews' researcher. He has a track record to make the Labour right proud:
- 2003: DT registers the domain shortchange.org.uk - a vicious attack on Clare Short after she resigned her cabinet post over the Iraq war.
- June - October 2004: DT writes a blog under his own name in which he calls Liberals 'stupid' and Welsh nationalists 'unashamedly racist'. Leighton Andrews tries to defend his colleague on his own blog HERE.
- August 2004: DT goes off to help with the Hartlepool by-election campaign. His friend, Adrian McMennamin, is heavily involved in it. Liberal Democrat candidate Jody Dunn is the first ever candidate to use a blog to try and get through to voters. It is savaged by anonymous comments of the most personal nature. The campaign becomes so heated the police are called in to break-up a Labour placard offensive!
- April 2005: DT creates the rememberredwood.com website - an election time reminder of the Tory days.
- July 2005: A bitter anti-nationalist website called Natwatch is launched. DT denies being the man behind it.
- 2005: Is there no end to this chap's online empire? DT is also the man behind shutthebackdoor.co.uk - a campaign to stop failed constituency candidates getting elected on the regional list. We know from the early days of his blog that this was a pet hate. Anyway, the petition only gets seven signatories. Six of those are spam. Nevertheless, the latest government of Wales act means the door is now firmly shut. Success!
- September 2005: DT is famously rumoured to have ejected Walter Wolfgang from the Labour party conference, shouting, "You can hear the f***ing heckling on Sky News. Shut them up, or take them out."
- January 2006: DT's mobile phone number appears on the advert for a service called New Media Council, offering "hands-on strategic targeting helping hundreds of individuals and organizations in getting their message across." It is hosted anonymously in America by DomainsByProxy.com.
(In May 2006, natwatch.org is registered in the same way, as is arsembly.org in April 2007. This service is used by thousands of people who prefer to remain anonymous).
- September 2006: DT sets up a website called keepingthefaith.org.uk. It's devoted to "backing Tony Blair against a minority of MPs who want to bring him down." The page was quickly hijacked by people who'd prefer to see the back of Tony Blair, the amusing archived results of which can be seen HERE.
- September 2006: DT registers the domain gordonbrown.org, offers it for sale and links to articles which do not show the Chancellor in the best light.
- September 2006: It's a busy month for DT. He registers the domains johnson4leader.org.uk, johnson4leader.co.uk, johnson4leader.org AND johnson4leader.com, leading to speculation about a 'plot by Blairites to undermine the Chancellor and push Alan Johnson as the next Prime Minister'.
- October 2006: Wherever Leighton Andrews goes, David Taylor is not far behind. This time it's the Keep Burberry British campaign. DT did the website.
- April 2007: Remember DT's rememberredwood.com? It now also hosts the official Welsh Labour election 2007 website.
DT is currently the registrant of a number of Welsh Labour websites including: leighton4rhondda.com, votehuw.com, rhondda.tv, sandymewies.com, huwlewis.co.uk and marktami.co.uk
It is, I'm sure you'll agree, a fairly impressive CV. There's evidence of a lot of graft here, and I can't imagine it's been done for no reason. These people are well-organized and ruthless. The territory, it seems, has been set. And after this election, there may just have to be a battle.
So, how long will it be, do you think, before that crucial Leighton4leader domain gets registered too?
Generous hat doffs to Tim Ireland, Dizzy and The Register.
Labels: blogging, blogs, David Taylor, Leighton Andrews
posted by Blamerbell @ 12:04 pm,
22 Comments:
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At 12:09 pm,
said...
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// There's evidence of a lot of graft here, and I can't imagine it's been done for no reason //
Could say the same about your post on him. It's a bit pointless and hardly relevent two days before an election.
soounds like you're the one with the agenda.
btw, if you think he is behind arsembly, you're wrong. he was in north wales when sanddef did his interview in cardiff. -
At 12:10 pm,
Blamerbell said...
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To those of you trying to access comments on this post earlier, I apologise. The blogger software published the post with an error. It happened before HERE. I've no idea why.
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At 12:11 pm,
said...
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we all know david taylor was in north wales. he was shafting darren millar at that hustings.
can't believe all the media took the odious shite's word for what was happening. even though millar denied it! -
At 12:19 pm,
said...
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This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
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At 12:22 pm,
said...
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oh my god!
David Taylor and Arsembly MUST be the same person - because they both register domain names anonymously!!!
No one else is clever enough -
At 12:24 pm,
said...
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ciaran have you totally lsot the plot?
how can you seriously suggest that DT beating up lib dems in hartlepool, registering johnson domain names and kicking wolfgang out of conference was all aprt of a long game plan of elgihton become first minister in wales. -
At 12:30 pm,
said...
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many political Assembly staff plus many members of the Labourlot see him as an odious little geeky twat. the kitchen staff hate him as he is always whinging about the food which is ironic seeing that he is such a fat bastard and has so many helpings. hopefully New Labour HQ will recognise his talents and get him out of Wales quick. last year ge dyed his hair obviously to get more attention from the Ladies, i would have suggested a diet and plastic surgery. him and Leighton make a lovely couple.
LC -
At 12:33 pm,
said...
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also he looks like Gordon Grimshaw from the Grimleys....
LC -
At 12:38 pm,
Blamerbell said...
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Play nice people! If you don't use insults in your comments, I won't have to delete them.
And many thanks to the single anonymous contributor who has made no fewer than four comments so far. I'm glad you could devote so much of your lunch hour to this debate! -
At 1:29 pm,
said...
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good work blamer
anyone who knows anything about Welsh Labour knows the leadership race has already started
after the election it's going to kick off big time -
At 1:57 pm,
Henlaw said...
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The only way for Labour to come back in Wales or the UK is for all the odious teenagers of whatever girth to get binned. Apparently the latest 'outside the box' thinking is that income and wealth distribution actually matters to the health of a society! Wow! They can't think without cliches, they know no UK or international history, and they are totally disconnected from the electorate. They certainly can't plan so I wouldn't waste your breathe wondering what they'll do next - just hitch a ride on another 'hero' who is already past his sell-by date.
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At 2:13 pm,
Che Grav-ara said...
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interesting post...as far as the anonymous comments that it is a pointless post before the election i would say that it offers a strong insight into why Labour have been pushing the tory first minister line. No one really believes it but it obviously serves the personal political aims of a number of labour am's in the run up to their leadership bids!
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At 2:26 pm,
said...
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thank you for putting my comments up Blamer. i know they are a bit childish but i believe Mr Taylor really does play the spiteful side of politics and usually gets away with it.
LC
PS he's a fat twat...doh...i cant help it -
At 4:05 pm,
said...
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Blamer. This bit of fluff is about as exclusive as Primarks new knickers. All of it can be found a in a couple of googlestrokes. Is this because you can't actually out Arse, because neither you or anyone else has managed to find out who he is.
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At 4:55 pm,
Martin Wilding Davies said...
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Democracy, eh? Who needs it? Oh brave new world that hath such people in it!
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At 6:51 pm,
said...
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David Taylor is a very clever guy. Wasted in NuLab really.
He never sleeps, never switches off. His latest trick is going to Eli's on Tuesday night. pretending to get pissed like everyone else but remembering every last detail of every conversation.
Wouldn't trust him, doesn't mean I don't respect him. He is the most talented Labour staffer in the Assembly. Shame, as he could be putting his skills to far better use.
I have no doubt he is masterminding Leighton's campaign. I'd underestmiate the pair of them at your peril. -
At 8:05 pm,
said...
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why would Leighton meed this guy is a very astute and talented guy He ran his own business and made millions He has been a king maker for years So he knows what to do
I wonder why he is an AM and a labour one -by persuasion he is a Liberal.
Talk among the civil servants is that the next FM will be Leightons former employee Andrew Davies backed by Edwina Dweeb Hart and she wil be the neck that turns the Head -
At 9:52 am,
said...
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btw, if you think he is behind arsembly, you're wrong. he was in north wales when sanddef did his interview in cardiff.
Or he could have got a co-conspirator to meet with me in his place. There's just no way of knowing. Until Leighton's campaign for the Welsh Labour leadership comes out in the open, of course. -
At 11:20 am,
said...
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you're right. Taylor is Arsembly. I have suspected that since the blog was launched. the blog's mild anti-Labour jibes are disinformation. It is also common knowledge in Cardiff Bay that he thinks Alun Pugh is a hopeless dumbo
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At 11:41 am,
said...
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Plus he would have access to the new assembly website plans. Plot depens
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At 12:34 pm,
said...
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It is also common knowledge in Cardiff Bay that he thinks Alun Pugh is a hopeless dumbo
To be fair I think everyone except possibly Alun Pugh thinks that as well. -
At 9:18 pm,
said...
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Just to say, the Welsh political blog scene has been the best thing about this election.
It's left media commentators looking as if they're speaking loudly, clearly and slowly for those hard of hearing people who 'don't understand politics'. A breath of fresh air.
vote dotCYM tomorrow!
Sion
www.dotcym.org
