It must be wonderful to always be right, don't you think, Bob?
Had you stood before as PPC for your seat, Bob? Were you determined to stand in North Swindon or would you have been happy to stand elsewhere as no more than a paper candidate? How many years had you spent building up your networks, your political reputation, your expertise and your skills base in the constituency for which you are now PPC? 6 months? 1 year? 5 years? 10? Were you widely known elsewhere? Did you have to contend with other candidates for your PPC slot choosing to jump ship from a constituency where they were losing votes to one where they were persuaded they would be welcomed by the electorate?
I'm not "trying to have it both ways", Bob. Neither is Aardvark. Nor is this a simple case of "sour grapes". The chairman did his best, despite the behaviour of those branch members who had their own agendas and vendettas to pursue, to run a fair election in accordance with due process. If Tolstoy had been the recipient of all 7 of the non-compliant ballot papers, Aardvark would have accepted the result with his usual equanimity. If a branch member had not chosen to wage his own personal campaign against Aardvark, Aardvark would not have questioned the result.
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