Labour MP Geoffrey Robinson has confirmed he will not resign, after reportedly telling local party members that he would be stepping down to make way for Ed Miliband’s director of strategy and planning at the general election.
Party sources say Robinson, MP for Coventry North West, told senior branch members on Thursday that he would be quitting after 39 years, six weeks before the general election, and recommended that Greg Beales replace him.
Local party members said they were angry the decision appeared to have been taken without their consultation so close to the election, and that they were worried Beales was being parachuted in, denying them the opportunity to select a candidate in the normal way.
On Sunday, Robinson issued a statement that said: “I am the Labour candidate for Coventry North West and I am going to fight to win this seat again on 7 May.”
Some in the local party have speculated that the apparent U-turn is because of pressure from the central Labour party after news of Robinson’s plans to resign caused such controversy in the local media.
An email leaked to the Coventry Observer, purportedly sent by Beales to Robinson earlier this week, seems to show him planning to come to Coventry to meet local members before a vote for a new candidate in less than two weeks. Local party members say they were unaware of any plans Robinson had to resign at the time the email was sent.
A spokesperson from the West Midlands Labour party had described the story as speculation, adding: “In every seat we ensure there is a strong shortlist of prospective candidates from which local Labour party members will select their candidate to fight the Tories at the general election.”
The Coventry Telegraph reported that a notice had been circulated by the Coventry Labour party north-west secretary, and Robinson’s parliamentary aide, Ed Ruane, calling members to an emergency meeting on Saturday evening.
It read: “I’m sure you may have heard the news that Geoffrey Robinson will be standing down as the member of parliament for Coventry North West at the forthcoming general election.
“Several local party members have requested an emergency constituency meeting to fully understand the process for the local constituency party in shortlisting and selecting a future Labour party parliamentary candidate in Coventry North West
so as to ensure that all local party members have an opportunity to take part in a local democratic process.”
Local party members feared the national Labour party could impose an emergency shortlist of only two candidates if Robinson resigned.
“We’ve been very loyal to Geoffrey and always backed him,” said one member. “We wouldn’t have had a problem if he’d just said he was retiring earlier.”
Geoffrey Robinson, who will turn 77 shortly after the general election on 7 May, has been the MP for Coventry North West since 1976. He served as the paymaster general under Tony Blair before resigning in 1998 after it was revealed that he lent the then trade and industry secretary, Peter Mandelson, £373,000 to buy a house.
