The Woolas Case: The Fight For Oldham East And Saddleworth

Saddleworth MP Phil Woolas faces a legal challenge to his general election victory. His Liberal Democrat opponent, Elwyn Watkins, has alleged that Mr Woolas broke the law by making certain statements about him in his election leaflets. The case begins at Uppermill Civic Hall tomorrow.

In advance of the hearing, Saddleworth News is publishing three special articles. Today, an in-depth look at what happened during the 2010 general election campaign in Oldham East and Saddleworth.

Phil Woolas

PHIL Woolas went into the campaign defending a notional majority of 4,245. Some boundary changes meant it was slightly more than his actual winning margin from 2005, but it was nowhere near enough for him to be certain of victory, especially in a three-cornered battle with strong contenders from both the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives. Indeed, he wrote in his diary in February that he was “pretty convinced” he was going to lose, as his anxiety grew over Labour’s national performance and his own links to the MPs’ expenses scandal, allegations strongly denied by Mr Woolas himself.

The Lib Dems’ Elwyn Watkins had spent two and a half years as his party’s Parliamentary candidate and said he’d knocked on more than ten thousand doors in that time. He was confident his hard work would lead to an election victory. Mr Watkins was especially buoyed by the Lib Dems’ strong showing in council polls, which included taking back control of Oldham Council in 2008, and holding all nine borough councillors for Saddleworth and Lees.

Things hadn’t looked so good for the Tory candidate, Kashif Ali, when the local party chair stood down in protest at his selection, complaining he’d been forced on them by Conservative Central Office. However, he quickly won the support of other local activists, and was hopeful of causing a surprise from third place. There were also candidates from the BNP, UKIP, and the little-known Christian Party.

Elwyn Watkins

Each of the three main candidates gave in-depth interviews to Saddleworth News during April. Mr Watkins went first, and said he wanted to be a “campaigning MP… that does his best for local folk.” Mr Woolas put local transport issues at the centre of his campaign, while revealing he’d been spat at simply for being an MP at the height of the expenses scandal. Mr Ali said jobs and economic regeneration were his main priorities.

The interviews can still be read and listened to. The Phil Woolas interview is here, Elwyn Watkins is here, Kashif Ali is here, and UKIP’s David Bentley is here.

Also in mid-April, the campaign began to turn nasty. As Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg visited Shaw, he was confronted by Michael Crick of Newsnight, with allegations that a former Lib Dem campaign worker had switched to the Woolas team because Mr Watkins had been paying her cash in hand, and under the minimum wage. Mr Watkins angrily denied the claims, and accused Labour of a political smear. Revenue and Customs later decided Mr Watkins had no case to answer.

But soon the whole dynamic of the campaign changed again, and again Nick Clegg was involved. His performance in the first televised leaders’ debate gave his party a huge boost in the opinion polls, and made local Lib Dems even more convinced they were about to win Oldham East and Saddleworth.

Mr Woolas wrote in his diary, later published in The Independent, that he thought things weren’t going well: “I am not enjoying this and there is a collective angst that our national campaign is uninspiring.” However, he did a good job of hiding it at the only hustings event to take place in Saddleworth during the campaign, as he turned in a polished performance in front of both his main rivals and a big crowd at Uppermill Civic Hall. Mr Woolas, then still the Immigration Minister, appeared to particularly relish a feisty exchange with Mr Watkins over the issues of asylum and immigration.

Gillian Duffy speaks to Gordon Brown in Rochdale. (picture: Niall Paterson)

But the problems mounted for Mr Woolas. Just eight days before the election, Gordon Brown came to Oldham for a speech and campaign event. All seemed to go well until the Prime Minister moved on to Rochdale. Moments after a conversation with local woman Gillian Duffy, he was picked up by a microphone referring to her as a “bigoted woman.”

A remarkable media storm ensued, and stepping into that storm to defend the PM was none other than Phil Woolas. Live on Newsnight that evening, he admitted his “annoyance” at Mr Brown’s unguarded remark. His true feelings were a little stronger, and he wrote in his diary: “Why f—ing me? Completely wiped out our event… I can’t see Labour recovering from this nationally: we may come third. Locally we will be very lucky to hang on.”

But the Labour campaign wasn’t finished. For months local activists had grumbled about the amount of election leaflets the Lib Dems had been delivering, as the party focused on what was one of its key targets in the region. Labour saved much of what literature it had for the final days before the election. The leaflets which were then posted through local letterboxes had plenty of uncomplimentary things to say about Mr Watkins. Whether the statements made in the leaflets broke the law, or were merely part of the typical cut-and-thrust of a hard-fought campaign, is now for a special election court to decide.

Kashif Ali

But nobody at the time had any idea that the leaflets would ultimately prove so central to the final story of the campaign here. The national Lib Dem poll rating, still strong, pointed to big gains for the party, and Oldham East and Saddleworth seemed certain to be among them. In the run-up to polling day, local Labour activists privately admitted to Saddleworth News they were certain Mr Woolas would lose.

However, hours after the polls closed, and as the count continued in Oldham, it became clear the result was going to be very close. It was also obvious that Kashif Ali had done well, although not quite well enough to challenge the two leaders. As results elsewhere in the country showed the Lib Dems failing to achieve the successes they’d hoped for, Mr Watkins’ hopes began to diminish.

A recount was called, and as dawn broke, just a “few dozen” votes separated Mr Woolas and Mr Watkins. Everyone was told to go home, get some sleep, and come back later in the morning. When they did, a second recount again put Mr Woolas ahead, this time by 103 votes, and his victory was declared.

Mr Woolas even managed a joke: “I’m the Paul Scholes of politics and I won in Fergie time!” However, he’d lost almost 4,000 votes despite an increased turnout, while, for all his hard work, Mr Watkins had also seen the Lib Dem vote decline slightly. It was Kashif Ali who, arguably, had most cause for satisfaction, having added almost as many votes to his tally as Mr Woolas had lost from his. The BNP finished fourth, narrowly saving their deposit, while UKIP and the Christian Party both lost theirs.

Election day in Dobcross

And in most elections that would have been that. But three weeks later Mr Watkins made the sensational announcement that he would be contesting the result, on the basis that Mr Woolas broke the law by making false claims about him in those Labour election leaflets. His petition focused on three sets of allegations, relating to where he lives, how he financed his campaign, and his purported attempts to “woo Muslim extremists.”

The immediate reaction of Mr Woolas was to accuse his opponent of “sour grapes” and of being a “bad loser.” Given that no Westminister election result had been declared void because of criminal wrongdoing by a candidate since 1911, Mr Watkins’ move appeared to be an extraordinary long shot. But since a High Court judge determined the details of how the case would be handled, and the date of the hearing has drawn near, what began in some quarters as scepticism has now been mixed with uncertainty. With so little legal precedent to go on, nobody is quite sure how the case will play out in the coming days. All most of us can do is watch and wait.

(In yesterday’s article, Saddleworth News looked back at some of the hard-fought election contests in our area in recent years, and you can read that here. Tomorrow, it’s a detailed assessment of what Elwyn Watkins must prove if he’s going to win his legal challenge)

For full coverage of the Oldham East and Saddleworth constituency from Saddleworth News, including all of the articles published here during the campaign, go here.

Author: Jude Gidney - Editor

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