A little while back, Brighton blogger (and online community specialist), Dan Wilson, accused Caroline Lucas of ‘bankrolling’ the Green Party (scroll down to the comments section on the link). Most of the hacks, including yours truly, laughed at the absurd suggestion. Yes, Caroline Lucas makes a small contribution to the Green Party (and rightly so), but I believe it to be a very modest one…and it certainly is compared to Barbara Follett, Labour MP for Stevenage, who was asked to payback £42,483, of which £32,976 has already been repaid. All well and good…I suppose. That is until we take a look at how much cash this champagne socialist has ploughed into her local party, Stevenage CLP. Are you ready for this? £116,100.00! I kid you not. Go on, take a look.
Yes, according to the wonderful folks at The Electoral Commission, Mrs. Follett has given a grand total of £116,100.00 to her constituency party since 2001. Talk about bankrolling a party. (I’m sure she’s enjoyed plenty of parties at her holiday homes in Cape Town and Antigua).
Now, I’m all for elected politicians helping out their local parties financially, I would be a bit peeved if they didn’t. But does anybody else think that £116,100.00 is taking the biscuit? I certainly think so.
(By the way, I’m sure there’s plenty of other Lab-Lib-Con MPs doing exactly the same as Mrs. Follett, I just haven’t bothered checking anyone else out, but I strongly suggest you do).
The Plural Progressive 