100% 4 Labour

Yesterday evening was a bit of a “red letter” day for me. For the first time ever I went out door to door canvassing and every person we spoke to who voted in elections declared themselves as Labour Party supporters.

Most were more positive than some...but okay, okay - this was in a solid Labour Council ward (West Ham – all three Councillors are Labour) in a safe Labour seat (Lyn Brown MP) and the borough has a Labour Mayor (Sir Robin Wales) and at least 54 Councillors out of possible 60.

It also had the largest Labour majority in the country at the Euro-elections. But I have never ever gone out and knocked on doors and had no-one “Against”, “refusing” to say (usually but not always Against) or a supporter of another political party. I am not going to get too excited about this since tomorrow evenings canvass may well be a different experience. Such is politics. But I think there is message somewhere – the polls do seem to be slowly closing the gap (too slowly) but I do think that the penny is beginning to drop and voters are thinking about what will happen to their jobs, wages, pensions, schools, social services and hospitals if the Tories do get in.

It is too easy to slag off Labour and run down their achievements - sometimes they deserve to be slapped around (e.g. the Posties) but the alternatives to Labour are frankly just too dire to contemplate (see photo previous post).

One thing that did trouble me was when we called at an address where a couple in their mid to late 20’s answered the door (with their young toddler who was making cheerful loud noises and enthusiastically trying all different ways to escape and run out of the door into the corridor) and they explained to us that they had never voted in their lives. They were not at all hostile and seemed quite happy to speak to us but seemed to be a little astonished that we should be calling on them and asking them to vote (for anyone). They were very much the exception but...

A useful reality check.

(Picture of West Ham parish Church, Cllr Bourne with the Ironmongers stone and the various local history information boards placed on the building site boundary walls)