Oldham MPs get Mandelson mention

Oldham MPs are among the many political figures mentioned in the new Peter Mandelson memoirs.

Lord Mandelson’s controversial book “The Third Man” recounts the 1995 by-election, following the death of Conservative MP Geoffrey Dickens.

Liberal Democrat candidate Chris Davies — now a Euro-MP for the North-West — beat Labour’s Phil Woolas by 1,993 votes.

Current Oldham East and Saddleworth MP Mr Woolas — who won the new Oldham East seat when Mr Davies’s constituency was reorganised two years later — is described as a “bright former NUS president.” He praised Phil for increasing Labour’s vote by 15 per cent and pushing the Tories into third place, down by more than 20 per cent.

Lord Mandelson writes: “In Littleborough and Saddleworth — Little and Sad as we inevitably dubbed it — we were on the attack.

“After the campaign was over, not only our opponents but some in Labour would denounce our ‘negative’ tactics in highlighting Lib-Dem front-runner Chris Davies’ support for higher taxes and a Royal Commission to liberalise drug laws.

“For tactical reasons, I felt we had little choice. Labour was starting from third place, and especially in a by-election, the bulk of Tory tactical voting was always going to flow to the Lib-Dems.

“Our share of the vote was up by 15 per cent, while the Tories were down by more than 20 per cent.”

Lord Mandelson’s book recounts his years as a key figure within successive Labour governments and his experience of the feud between Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.

The often gossipy details of the two men’s difficult relationship have provoked anger from former colleagues.

Labour leadership contender Ed Miliband criticised the timing of the book’s launch given the party is looking for a new leader and trying to focus on issues rather than personalities.