Wednesday, December 02, 2015

Momentum runs out of momentum in Gateshead

I was in Gateshead Civic Centre last night having a meeting with my colleague Cllr Frank Hindle. Along the corridor from the opposition office, where we were meeting, is the Bridges Room. It had been booked by Corbyn fanclub Momentum. At 6pm I walked past the Bridges Room, where the door was wide open and glimpsed inside to see, well, not very much. A handful of people were sat, awaiting in a comradely fashion for the arrival of the massed ranks of the Momentum activists. Sadly for them, over the next 15 minutes only another handful of Momentum comrades appeared. We could see what was happening as our office door was open and we could see right down the corridor.

What was interesting however was the arrival of one individual in particular. Martin Gannon, the deputy leader of the Gateshead Labour council group arrived a few minutes after the 6pm start. Martin is the weathervane of the Labour group. Back in the 1980s he was militantly socialist, in the 1990s and 2000s he was more Blairite than Blair, now he appears to be reliving his glory days of the 1980s by meeting up with the Corbynistas.

But if Momentum thought they had momentum behind them, the numbers attending their meeting must have been disappointing. The Labour establishment need fear nothing from such a small meeting. At least at the moment.

No comments: