Opening up Birkenhead

By Liam Murphy on Nov 3, 09 02:17 PM

LAST month Birkenhead MP Frank Field said he would welcome an open primary to select the Labour candidate who will stand at the next General Election. (See the story here and Mr Field's blog, here)

However, the issue seems to stand or fall on who will pay for holding these primaries, and the organisation pressing for them, Open Up, say they certainly don't have the cash for it. It is also unlikely many political parties will have the cash needed to run these primaries.

Instead, Open Up is pushing for the tax payer to fund them.

Frank Field MP.jpg

Mr Field followed up his original blog post (in which he had said he would welcome the challenge if his local party backed the plan) by saying such primaries would most likely only operate in safe seats, which might cut the overall costs somewhat.

It could also give voters - who pretty much know which party will be representing them, the chance to choose someone they want.

Mr Field said: "in safe seats the voters will know the real contest will be in the primary. They will push to select a candidate nearest to their views".

However, he did point out some potential consequences of this, saying: "This will not only make controlling MPs in Parliament more difficult - people will have direct mandates for their particular views from their own constituents - but I guess that once open primaries are established in safe seats, the voters' interest in general elections will largely collapse."

Now we wait and see whether Open Up can convince anyone to pay for this primary and -as Frank Field said - create a "real contest".