A second candidate in a Labour target seat has come out to publicly reject a donation to their campaign from Tony Blair. Last week’s announcement that Blair would give £1,000 to each of Labour 106 target seats was followed by Dundee East PPC Lesley Brennan declaring that she would not be accepting his money.
Now, a second candidate has followed suit. According to local paper Northants Herald & Post, Northampton North candidate Sally Keeble has confirmed she has also declined the money. The constituency is 39th on Labour’s target seat list.
Keeble told the paper:
“The £1,000 donations are being offered to key seats – of which we were one.
“I have emailed them back to say we won’t be accepting.”
However, it seems she may not have a choice. In the aftermath of Brennan’s decision at the weekend, the Dundee Courier reported that the money would not be going directly to the seats in question, but through the national party – meaning that there would be no specific donation from Blair to reject.
A source told the paper:
“She thinks Tony Blair’s office is going to write the Dundee Labour Party a cheque but it all comes through national spend.”
Kevin McKeever, the candidate for Northampton South (which is not a target seat) has already tweeted that he would be happy to accept a donation, while the move has received praise from Siobhain McDonagh MP and Steve Race, PPC in non-target East Devon.
@tonyblairoffice thankyou 4 remembering the 106 target @UKLabour seats. £1,000 buys a lot of leaflets+ a real chance 2 beat @Conservatives
— Siobhain McDonagh MP (@Siobhain_Mc) March 8, 2015
https://twitter.com/steve_race/status/574609073129287680
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