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Georgia Gould (far right) pictured with Margaret Hodge (second from left) in 2003 and Alex Birtles |
Georgia: Fresh goal for peer’s daughter caught up in nepotism allegations
Former Camden School for Girls pupil to stand for Town Hall after missing out on safe seat
GEORGIA Gould, the daughter of one of Tony Blair’s key allies who became swept up in a catty favouritism row, last night (Wednesday) urged voters in Camden to take her seriously as she switched her attentions from Parliament to the Town Hall.
The 23-year-old told the New Journal: “I have been a member of the Labour Party since I was 15 and I have done the work locally for this.”
Ms Gould, whose father is former New Labour pollster Lord Gould and whose mother is the publishing supremo Gail Rebuck, was picked on Tuesday night to fight Kentish Town ward at May’s council elections.
The selection came less than a fortnight after she was stopped from becoming Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Erith and Thamesmead, a constituency widely regarded as a Labour safe seat and a passport to the House of Commons.
Ms Gould lost out in a members vote after a turbulent campaign in which she was accused of getting high profile help from family friends such Alastair Campbell and Tessa Jowell – a point she has publicly denied.
She would have been in line to become one of Labour’s youngest-ever MPs – now she is vying to become one of Labour’s youngest- ever councillors in Camden.
The scrap she has just encountered should be just a taste of the battle ahead if Ms Gould wants to win a place at the Town Hall. While Kentish Town was once a Labour stronghold, the Lib Dems have slowly taken complete control of the ward by gaining seats in the boroughwide elections and at recent by-elections. The see-saw battleground has more than once been the scene of frayed tempers.
Ms Gould said: “I think we have a good team. The most important thing is to win back the ward and the council for Labour and oppose the cuts that the Lib Dems have imposed. I have always taken an interest and have worked for the party in Gospel Oak.
“Camden is where I grew up. I went to Camden School for Girls and know Kentish Town Road well.”
Asked about whether she had been scarred by her defeat in Erith and a wave of negative headlines, she added: “The experience was a good learning curve but it hasn’t been put me off. We will see what happens in the future but at the moment people will see me out every week, working in Camden as a local candidate.”
Ms Gould was more than just a pupil at Camden School for Girls in Sandall Road – she was a head girl.
Famously, as a sixth former she quizzed the then education minister Margaret Hodge about the stress of exams and ended up on the front page of the New Journal five years ago.
Our archive picture is the perfect reminder of her early start in politics – and, to her, is the source of pride rather than embarrassment.
Former classmates said her interest in politics has not been whipped up overnight.
“When she was 15, she ran in the school’s mock general election with Alex Birtles, the daughter of Patricia Hewitt,” said one. “They had their Labour Party posters printed at Millbank, when everyone else was using clip art and felt tip. They still didn’t win because the Green Party candidates promised to legalise cannabis.” |
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Your comments:
OH PLEASE, NO WONDER MY DAUGHTERS CAN'T GET INTO CAMDEN SCHOOL FOR GIRLS AS ITS FULL OF POLITICIANS DAUGHTERS TRYING TO MAKE A POINT, MAKE THE POINT THAT THEY ARE POOR AND THEY UNDERSTAND COZ THEY WENT TO A LOCAL COMPREHENSIVE, YOU CANT FOOL ME, YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT LIFE. THIS KID NEEDS TO AGE BY ABOUT 30 YEARS GAIN SOME MUCH NEEDED EXPERIENCE AND THEN STAND. PEOPLE LIKE THIS MAKE MY BLOOD BOIL.
Sarah |
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