Winning Wavertree, the film: a crushing electoral defeat

By David Bartlett on Jan 10, 11 09:26 PM in Regional Affairs

Imagine the scene at the Garmoyle: Lib-Dem activists hurrying around, printing off leaflets, stuffing envelopes.

Weary souls will slump down in the Liverpool Lib-Dem HQ returning to the office with very little sleep after spending days in the run up to the general election pounding the streets.

"We don't want to get carried away yet, but we are quietly confident that Colin will beat Luciana," one campaigner will look at the camera and say.

It could possibly be the opening sequence of "Winning Wavertree".

Winning Wavertree was intended to be a film documenting Colin Eldridge's victory in the parliamentary seat in the 2010 general election.

With Nick Clegg riding high in the polls at the time of filming in May, the party expected Eldridge to sweep into Wavertree.

As we know things panned out a bit differently, he was crushed and polled less votes than in 2005.

Winning Wavertree is directed by Luke Massey, the talented film-director brother of Eldridge's election agent Tom Morrison.

Apparently the film will be edited at some point this year and may make it to the small screen.

I am reliably told that the worts and all documentary will show the usually hidden from view effort that goes into attempting to win a parliamentary seat.

It promises to be an interesting insight, not just into the bitter campaign for Wavertree, but also into the contribution of activists to politics in our country.

18 Comments

ItsAllSoClear said:

I absolutely love this:


http://afistfuloffilms.wordpress.com/category/winning-wavertree/


Second post down, under the title 'A member of the public shows support for Nick Clegg', the video caption reads 'Sorry, this video does not exist'.


HA! Fantastic!


Liverpool Lib Dems: Doing Labour's work for them since May 2010.

Jenny Tallon said:

aww jeez, David, you'd think the guy would just move on now.
He clearly loves the limelight, judging by the other posts you've featured him on, and i'm sure the job offers are rolling in for him now...
i'm biased if im honest. I was a volunteer on Gerald Kaufmans campaign in Manchester, and theres no way we'd have arranged for some film crew to tottle about filming us under the title 'WINNING', and i'm fairly sure it wouldn't have entered Luciana's teams heads.
I'd turn up just to watch a classic example of ambition without the supporting intellect.
Im sure this Morrison guy is one to watch out for in the future - but only to see what this 'talent' will do next.

Phil said:

I find it weird that so many people slag this Morrison character off by calling him "unimportant" but still they talk about him an awful lot...

I'm sure there are better things to discuss? Or perhaps there aren't and these little pokes at his expense are done because they actually hold a bit of respect for the guy?

There's one to think over and I'll be looking forward to seeing this film if it comes out.

P.S. I'm not bias as I've been a Green Party activist for years and couldn't care less about the Lib Dems or Labour.

Jenny said:

Yes I agree with Phil, its a bit odd people would post about him on a blog entry featuring him. (?!).
Just having a quick scan at the figures and the Lib Dems in Wavertree polled less votes than they did in 2005.
Does anyone know how long he was in charge of the Lib Dem campaign for?

Sherlock said:

Weird.. Jenny Tallon doesnt seem to exist in Kaufman's office...

Jenny said:

as I said I was a volunteer whilst I was living there, I certainly don't work for him and probably won't be deliverig leaflets for him whilst i'm back in Liverpool.
Oh just noticed Sherlock and Phil used the word 'weird' and dot off their sentences too. (Try harder with the alias's darling?). Stick to the facts too - unlike your little BBC interview, say one thing and do another?
Still can anyone tell me how long this guy was agent before they polled less than in 2005? Try that one for us, Sherlock?

mr. captain rg said:

come on people, let’s quit the “silliness” and be honest. you know the name and you probably have seen this guy’s face at some point in your lives.

probably, the reason why you’re slagging him off isn’t really this “winning wavertree” documentary but because you know “this character” is actually someone you see as a threat. talent? wit? you name the reason. it might be something you all lack.

eldridge lost and so did “this guy”. they’ve moved on. why can’t you?

if you all are so clever, why are you still wasting your time talking about someone that according to you is such a fool? and to think this person might be so obtuse to know you all intellectuals spend your time commenting on a blog and speaking about him. oh, irony


by the way david, i thought your blog was supposed to inform people about recent events and not just to copy rather old information from another blog.

if i had wanted to re-read this story i’d have gone on louise baldock’s blog, we all know she, as well, enjoys criticizing Cllr. Thomas Morrison quite a lot.

mr. captain said:

come on people, let’s quit the “silliness” and be honest. you know the name and you probably have seen this guy’s face at some point in your lives.

probably, the reason why you’re slagging him off isn’t really this “winning wavertree” documentary but because you know “this character” is actually someone you see as a threat. talent? wit? you name the reason. it might be something you all lack.

eldridge lost and so did “this guy”. they’ve moved on. why can’t you?

if you all are so clever, why are you still wasting your time talking about someone that according to you is such a fool? and to think this person might be so obtuse to know you all intellectuals spend your time commenting on a blog and speaking about him. oh, irony


by the way david, i thought your blog was supposed to inform people about recent events and not just to copy rather old information from another blog. if i had wanted to re-read this story i’d have gone one louise baldock’s blog, we all know she as well, enjoys criticizing Cllr. Thomas Morrison quite a lot.

jenny said:

I was a volunteer whilst I was living there, I certainly don't work for him and probably won't be deliverig leaflets for him whilst i'm back in Liverpool. This is what I meant by volunteer - read a bit more carefully, yeah?
Oh just noticed Sherlock and Phil used the word 'weird' and triple-dot off some of their sentences too. (Try harder with the alias's darling?). Stick to the facts too - unlike your little BBC interview, say one thing and do another.
Still can anyone tell me how long this guy was agent before they polled less than in 2005? Try that one for us, Sherlock?

war ring said:

I notice 'Mr. Captain', like 'Phil' and 'Sherlock' puts triple dots at the end of sentences, as Jenny pointed out. Awww, poor lil Tom :-) - feverishly monitoring this post to see if anything negative is said and then inserting a 'moderate' voice. Our own lil modster.
I guess we can all enjoy your moderate tones for a while at least, waiting until your chance comes for the local party leadership. At least Cllr Till gave an empassioned speech on Wed. Not like the tripe you offered. Still I can assure you, you will have an interesting 2011.

war-ring said:

I notice 'Mr. Captain', like 'Phil' and 'Sherlock' puts triple dots at the end of sentences, as Jenny pointed out. Awww, poor lil Tom :-) - feverishly monitoring this post to see if anything negative is said and then inserting a 'moderate' voice. Our own lil modster.
I guess we can all enjoy your moderate tones for a while at least, waiting until your chance comes for the local party leadership. At least Cllr Till gave an empassioned speech on Wed. Not like the tripe you offered. An interesting 2011 awaits you for sure.

war ring said:

I notice 'Mr. Captain', like 'Phil' and 'Sherlock' puts triple dots at the end of sentences, as Jenny pointed out. Awww, poor lil Tom :-) - feverishly monitoring this post to see if anything negative is said and then inserting a 'moderate' voice. Our own lil modster.
I guess we can all enjoy your moderate tones for a while at least, waiting until your chance comes for the local party leadership. At least Cllr Till gave an empassioned speech on Wed. Not like the tripe you offered. An interesting 2011 awaits you for sure.

mr. captain rg said:

dear louise... sorry, i meant to say dear war-ring,

you might want to visit this website and maybe get a bit instructed?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellipsis

war-ring said:

Dear Tom, er, 'Phil', er...whatever your calling yourself, this ISN'T Louise, whoever that is, (you might have a bit of an obsession there?)but we'll take the ellipsis as to your admission of the aliases. Well done.
And in regards to you, here's my little diagnosis:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissistic_personality_disorder

The REAL Tom Morrison said:

Hi Jenny, War-in, Cappy, anyone else,

I was told to check this thread out by Phil. He does exist, although I have now blown his cover as 'unbias' as he's a good friend of mine in Warwickshire. I am putting money on him being Sherlock, but for other more obvious reasons.

He's had trouble with Political skirmishes down South and I mentioned to him it was nothing like the bear pit that is Liverpool, and since I offered DSB as an example. He stupidly rose to the bait and defended me. Thanks though matey, much appreciated.

I just wanted to clear it up that it isn't me posting.

Jenny, you're dead right to have your opinion about how the election was run. The title of the film is unfortunate but I (unfortunately) have no say over such matters. I wouldn't have expected Luke to design the literature, therefore I wouldn't expect him to get me to do his job either. It was a good result for Kaufman in Manchester, so well done to you. I like him as an MP, he is a straight talker. Something I appreciate.

As for Wavertree, yeah the result hurt a lot. I worked on the Eldridge campaign for three years. Although just attacking me and my campaign team really cheapens the work Luciana's team did. Their campaign was really well run, the messaging was spot on and Luciana was very very driven. I said so to Peter Dowling afterwards and from my part, I left with no hard feelings. So far I have been impressed with Luciana as an MP. Her work on the games industry has been very good and I wish her all the best.

War-ing. I don't know who you are as it's some snide little alias you're using. However I do agree that Cllr Steph Till's maiden speech was impressive. In fact I have found her work on the Council to date very impressive. Her contributions at the Community Safety Select Committee were well thought and insightful. I'm looking forward to working with her on the Council in the near future.

Look guys as much fun all this is, I think it's time that we stopped pretending that people of note, mainly Louise and myself, are labelled as going on here and using pretend names.

It seems whenever something nasty or controversial is said, many people have to say "Oh Tom, not your real name" or "Ooooh Louise, you are getting angry!"

It's happened on other blogs and it isn't fair.

Like it or not, Louise and I are really civil to each other. Yeah there is a past there, but I've realised that to move on you have to let the past be the past. Also I feel you can't be mean to Middlesbrough fans for too long, it just becomes too cruel. (Jokes Louise!)

There's bigger stuff to be talking about. LCC are facing massive cuts in the budget, there was a horrible and evil suicide attack in Moscow yesterday AND the Tories are trying to let Rupert Murdoch rule the world of digital media for just pennies!

Lets concentrate on the real issues and talk about why we're all in Politics in the first place.

We're all in this game because we care about how our Country and City is run. Okay, we may not agree with each other on how that process should be, but that's the beauty of democracy and I wouldn't have it any other way.

I will now depart and won't be posting on here any more in the comments thread (I can hear Ronnie cheering). I really don't have the time and to be honest, I've grown out of it.

Thanks all,

Cllr Tom Morrison

john said:

Dear Cllr Tom Morrison,
we cannot believe a word that comes out of your mouth - or your hands in this case. I notice you failed to address your inconsistencies over tuition fees with that wholly insincere interview, totally in line with your party then.
You say there are bigger things to address, then why promote this ludicrous film and not expect raised eyebrows over its title when you do?
Then we find out 'Phil' and whoever else are friends of yours, commenting on your behalf. You've decided not to post again because you have "grown out of it", in other words you cannot handle pressure.
And don't forget your name is linked with failure until kingdom come, so quit the 'nice guy' act with your little compliments to Labour councillors because it doesn't wash. And try to find a spine somewhere along the way.

Hi All,

Very interesting comments on this post, was slighty amused by some!

The best candidate won, Luciana is doing Wavertree proud and the response on the doorstep proves that. Just a shame we never filmed our campaign!

The NON-REAL Tom Morrison said:

Hi there guys, *smiles insincerely*
I was told to look at this by my non-real friends who I made up to make some defending points about my wit and talent. They don't come from Warwickshire, and I stupidly rose to the bait.
Jenny, I like Kaufman because you helped him out and I really don't want you hating me. Because i'm great. *smiles*.
The name of the film is preposterous and it was a terrible idea at the time, but I suppose I have to validate the 3 years I wasted somehow, so i'll probably forge ahead with it anyway.
Yeah, losing hurt. Insanely. But hey, after 7 months I can finally admit Labour's campaign was 20x better, so bully for me. *smiles*. *thumbs up*.
War-ring, yeah Cllr Tills maiden speech was empassioned, unlike my own, because unlike me she doesn't mind rocking the boat, saying what she believes and doesn't have her eye on the local leadership in a few years time. *big grin*.
Have I complimented the opposition enough yet? I want to show i'm a nice guy and I can work with Labour because they crushed my campaign to death at the polls and i'm really not in a good position right now. I hope they haven't noticed I spoke against tuition fees on TV then voted against that council motion. Er... um...*big smiles*
Louise and I have a history. I did a leaflet about her and then she got about 70% of the vote. Arn't I great?! *grin*
Its really not fair people attack me and her for posting anonymous blog posts, even though most of our time is spent crusing blogs looking for comments about ourselves. [Insert football joke here to show what a great, magnaminous guy I am] *Big smiles*
There are bigger things to talk about. Anything is bigger as long as its not about this film...please, anything? *casual face*. After all, we are in politics for the mone...magic of helping.
But hey *big smiles* *arms open* i'm not gonna post on here any more because its all got a bit too much, my failure and everything, and people picking up on that. So i'm gonna lie low for a while and probably pick an alias in a few days
Thanks all *massive grin*
The NON-real Tom Morrison xxx

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David Bartlett

David Bartlett

City editor of the Post and Echo covering politics, regeneration, and urban affairs.
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