Hermon - not so independent, or liberal, as she wants to appear.

An interesting piece on Ken Reid’s blog, highlighted by Pete Baker, on Slugger O’Toole. Sylvia Hermon, who, for her persistent attacks on her own party, has acquiring something of a reputation for independence, seems to be establishing an alliance with the DUP.

The deselected North Down MP has yet to announce her intention to stand in the forthcoming election, but she has clearly begun electioneering anyway. Reid highlights ‘cordiality’ between Hermon and DUP MPs, at the Westminster debate about policing and justice.

In fact Reid understands that no Democratic Unionist candidate will stand against Hermon in North Down and practical help ‘on the ground’ is likely to be forthcoming.

Of course it is not the first time that a Hermon - DUP axis has appeared. The same protagonists banded together to force Labour’s draconian 40 day pre-trial detention legislation through the Commons. Indeed, O’Neill ably demonstrates, that Hermon, despite her liberal reputation, is even more authoritarian than the DUP, according to Liberal Democrat Voice.

With Sammy Wilson coming out against recommendations for a cut in Corporation Tax yesterday, and haranguing company directors, it’s not hard to see a left-authoritarian alliance developing between Labour, Hermon and the DUP.

The people of North Down are reputedly attached to their current MP, but do they really want to cast a vote for a figure who supports a discredited Labour government at Westminster and a sectarian carve-up at Stormont?

Comments

Timothy Belmont said…
Mmmm, interesting. North Down is peculiar, in a sense! Jim Kilfedder was independent; Bob McCartney too, and slightly left-wing I gather?

Hermon could well now be more comfortable taking the DUP whip; though many of them are not left-wing by any stretch of the imagination.

If she is popular in the constituency, she could even retain it...
Arthur Figgis said…
Is that a surprise? When someone's been basically an annexe of the most authoritarian government in memory, they're not going to score very highly in a test on liberalism!
Of course, if she'd actually bothered to turn up to more divisions, then she would've been even higher, having only actually voted for the 'liberal' option on one occasion.

Mind you, the Sandalistas Voice's description of something as liberal or illiberal does not necessarily define it as such- their selection of divisions was clearly designed to make their own members come up smelling of roses.
Maybe one day they'll learn that fiscal authoritarianism is no more liberal than any other authoritarianism (though it is quite comfortably Liberal).
(Is that the sound of Muesli being choked on?)
ge_f99 said…
I wonder will Hermon and the DUP take the Labour whip along with SDLP if this westminster election forces a hung parliament in favour of Gordon Brown?
Anonymous said…
gone now!

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