On May 7 I’ll be standing against Gloria De Piero, Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities, in Ashfield.
The seat had historically been a safe Labour seat, and Geoff Hoon used to secure 10,000+ majorities. In 2010 former Sky presenter Gloria De Piero was selected from an all-women shortlist, and retained the seat with only 192 votes more than her Lib Dem rival, Jason Zadrozny, a popular local politician.
Zadrozny has been arrested, and suspended by the Lib Dems, over historical sex abuse allegations – here – which he vehemently refutes.
A smear campaign? We shouldn’t forget that while they could be true they are just allegations and these days such allegations are even more damaging to a political career than false sexual harassment or rape allegations. Now seems a very strange time to make them, after so long, and when the Labour candidate holds such a slim majority. I’m not suggesting anything, of course, merely pointing out possibilities.
The Liberals / Liberal Democrats have always been seen, mistakenly, as an alternative to Labour so eliminating the popular local LibDem challenger could reasonably be thought to increase De Piero’s chances of retaining the seat, and with an increased majority. I’m not suggesting anything, of course, merely pointing out possibilities.