Far be it for Junksmith to intrude into party politics, but I derive some wry pleasure from the #KerryOut campaign. Labour's 'Twitter Tsar' Kerry McCarthy (MP for Bristol East) has made enemies of a good portion of the blogosphere for various reasons, including making defamatory online remarks about Tory Bear (Harry Cole) and Iain Dale, and then blocking their replies.
Kerry (as she is now universally known among the blogerati, was completely undistinguished as an MP, following the whip on every occasion. Ironically, her only taste of fame – her fatuous 'Twitter Tsar' appointment – could well be her undoing. Iain Dale has put her top of his list of 'Labour MPs I'd like to see kicked out of Parliament', and Tory Bear and others are sinking the snowboots in too.
As a result of the #KerryOut campaign, which Kerry has brought on herself, the Tory candidate for Bristol East, Adeela Shafi, has raised over £1,600 in donations in just a few days. I am sure her £2,000 target will be exceeded soon. It should all remind politicians – particularly pompous politicians who proclaim that they know how to handle the new media – that the blogosphere is not to be messed with.