London UNISON Labour Link – Boris, Barnbrook and winning next time.

By co-incidence this morning was the quarterly regional meeting of London UNISON Labour Link Committee (or APF - the voluntary political levy that many UNISON members pay that promotes members views and UNISON policies within the Labour Party).

It was a good opportunity to meet up with comrades from across London and different parts of UNISON to discuss the recent campaign and election results. I think that everyone was “disappointed” (to say the least) with Ken losing the mayoralty and the BNP gaining a seat. Despite the current circumstances it was a very positive, thoughtful and forward thinking meeting. An extra Labour seat was won and we did increase the Labour vote in London

This was the first meeting since the re-election of the committee; the first item was election of officers. Louise Couling and Bill Beekoo were elected Co- Chair’s while Gloria Hanson and I were elected Co-Vice Chairs.

The Greater London Assembly report was by newly re-elected Assembly member for Enfield and Haringey, Joanne McCarthy (see picture).

Joanne is a UNISON member and has been a regular visitor to London Labour Link meetings. The committee congratulated Joanne on winning her seat. It had been a key Tory target. She gave a short verbal report then answered questions.

Joanne started off by admitting that the loss of Ken had been a disaster not only for London but also for the Unions. Ken had an “open door” to the unions which Boris is not expected to follow. She thanked UNISON and the other affiliated trade unions for their work in the election. If the unions had not rallied around Labour in London in the way they did then the results could have been far worse.

There is a problem that since the Tories now control more than 8 seats in the Assembly, then Boris’s budget proposals cannot be blocked. But, since the Assembly Chairs of Committees are decided by a simple majority of members, then it is likely (not confirmed until the Assembly AGM) that a coalition of the minority Parties may be able to control the all important committees. These “Scrutiny committees should be able to monitor what Boris is up to and try to stop him from damaging London too much. Boris can also be held to account to a degree by formal “questions” to the Mayor.

Labour Link had tabled a special report analysing the overall BNP vote in the 2008 elections. We discussed this and Joanne reassured committee members that the BNP will not get the GLA money and resources that some have claimed following the election of Barnbrook. To be recognised as a “Party” in the GLA you need at least 2 seats. So it is likely that he will only get enough to employ one paid member of staff (too many). There was as we say a "wide ranging discussion" on means to combat the BNP while ensuring that GLA staff are protected. We need to careful, since Barnbrook will be using his position as a platform for the European elections next year and will thrive on confrontation and publicly. Apparently, if he does something stupid (as elected BNP councillors are prone to do) and is kicked out, then the BNP can replace him with another list candidate.

If in London we could have raised the turnout from 45.3% to 49% then the BNP would have not been elected. They only increased their total vote by just over 0.5% from 2004.

After Joanne left there was a general debate about the election, lessons learnt and planning ahead for the European elections in 2009, Council elections in 2010 and of course at some time in the next few years there will be a general election. The Tories clearly mobilised their supporters to come out and vote better than Labour. National political sentiments did not help Labour in London. However, a capable and experienced progressive candidate on the left of the Labour Party was clearly defeated by a centre right wing Tory.

There was widespread agreement by committee members over the desperate need to defeat the Tories and the vital role that trade unions can play in the coming battles. We need to remind our members of what happens when Conservatives are in power, locally and nationally.

We need to organise between now and next time to win.