Local Labour Twitter accounts are in overdrive right now, as hyper as those old pit ponies let out for their summer grazing. I just wish they could come up with an adjective more imaginative than "fantastic" all the time.
Anyway, what excited our Dulais valley resident MP (see below) was the "fantastic" evening at NPT's Labour Campaign Launch, no less. NPT has great councillors according to her. She obviously meant the Labour lot. She'd hardly praise any other sort. I wonder if she included all those lazy Labour buggers that hardly ever turned up to Committees - some of whom have been deselected to try and con the public that this lamentable Party has its finger on the pulse. Now I'm prepared to retract this if proven wrong, but a little bird told me that Ms Rees used to be a Porthcawl Town Councillor - with attendances that would hardly have earned her a Gold Star from teacher!
Now girls, sing after me:
"Tall, blonde, dark and lean
Rough and tough and strong and mean ....."
Those bottom images of the event remind me of one of those cringeworthy Karaoke evenings. I don't think that cerise sweater and black shirt that the Reverend is wearing should be allowed out in public either. Maybe in 1977 but never, ever in 2017. And what's with the black collar? I guess the white doggie one was in the wash.
Then check out those perennial, sycophantic "Retweeters" and "Likers" of the Tweets by Labour bigwigs, vying for position again. Alan Lockyer in first this time, with Mike Harvey relegated to fourth - even beaten by his Mrs, Debbie, who in the top photo is third from the right in the back row.
A different little bird has told me that Harry Potter's Mrs, whom I assume is Mrs Anthony Taylor, is standing in the Port Talbot area. Could it even be the same ward as Harry? This is actually getting more surreal than a real J K Rowling book. We've had the Millers, we've had the Bebells, the Lockyers (though one is a Neath Town councillor). We've the Harveys going for a double act. There are rumours of Mr Wingrave going for a seat in one of the Coedffranc wards to join his Mrs, who currently represents Cadoxton. And now the bloody Harry Potters. Mrs Bloody Harry Potter aka Rachel Taylor is actually seated third from the left in the front row in that group photo.
Are Labour REALLY that desperate that all those husbands and wives have to be wheeled out to make the numbers up? Is it the prospect of two council allowances coming in to one household - is that's what is causing this stampede to the public trough? Or could it be that the title of "Neath's No 1 Couple" first promulgated here on these pages and now jealously guarded by the Lockyers, has seized the imagination of other attention seekers, and they want their five minutes of fame in STaN's column?
I'm all for more women on our councils, believe me. But take this too far and when a lightbulb needs changing in the Committee Room we're going to be right up sh*t street.
More to come on these lovely couples in due course......
