6 mile Lee Valley Walk - Wildlife Discovery Centre

 
Off message. It's been a while since I've posted about a walk with Gill, but better late than never.

Today we drove to the Wildlife Discovery Centre in Lee Valley Park for a 6.36-mile circular walk, courtesy of Country Walking magazine via the OS Maps app. It's only a little over 30 minutes by car from East London. We also completed this walk back in 2024.

There was one modest climb, a spell of rain (we enjoyed a pleasant but rather soggy lunch under a tree), and lots and lots of water: weirs, bridges, rivers, streams, canal towpaths, locks and numerous lakes formed from former gravel quarries.

Along the way we spotted red kites, muntjac deer, animal sculptures, skittish ponies, bird hides, Victorian coal tax boundary posts and all manner of other birdlife.

A thoroughly recommended walk.

Cheshunt railway station is not far from the route for those arriving by public transport.

Finally, on the way home, we stopped for a well-earned drink at The Sultan pub.

I'll post some more photographs from the walk on Facebook over the next few days

Delivering Uma Kumaran's Stratford & Bow Parliamentary Report

This afternoon, Constituency Labour Party volunteers met up with Uma Kumaran MP in Forest Gate to collect copies of her latest Parliamentary Report.

It was good to catch up with fellow members of our new CLP, which we hope will begin meeting and campaigning again very soon. There was a real sense of enthusiasm as volunteers gathered to help ensure residents across the constituency receive an update on Uma's work in Parliament and locally.

I was given a bag of reports for the Green Street West area and set off by bicycle to begin delivering them. Over the coming days and weeks, volunteers will be delivering reports to homes throughout the Stratford & Bow constituency.

During my round, I was pleased to come across a council-owned block that was in excellent condition. I intend to write to Sanctuary Housing Association, which manages the block, to commend the caretaker team for their hard work and high standards.

However, I also noticed an electric scooter being stored in a communal area. As this could pose a safety and fire risk, it needs to be removed as soon as possible.

My Local Government Week

 

Monday started with a street cleaning roundtable with Cabinet colleagues and senior officers to discuss improvement actions, followed by further meetings on the Council's performance management. In the evening, I attended a meeting of Labour Group officers.

On Tuesday, I went to an in-person meeting in Westminster of Labour London LGA leaders, deputising for Mayor Forhad Hussain, and stayed on for the all-party LGA Councillors' Forum. There were interesting presentations and Q&A sessions with Government ministers Jim McMahon MP and Matthew Pennycook MP. The big issues were fair funding, local government finance and changes to planning laws. Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrat, Independent, Green and Reform councillors from all over England were present. I think there was a genuine attempt by the LGA Chair, Cllr Eamonn O'Brien, to build consensus and create a single voice for local government despite political differences.

Back in Newham, Cllr Tonii Wilson and I had our monthly meeting with the Mayor on housing issues. In the evening, I held my new monthly surgery for West Ham ward constituents and raised casework relating to housing and parking matters.

On Wednesday, Cllr Wilson and I spent the day at the Council's Bridge Road Depot in West Ham ward, meeting officers from the Housing Needs Service, which deals with homelessness and temporary accommodation. We met three different teams to learn more about their work and the challenges and blockages they face. We were very impressed by the friendly, enthusiastic and professional approach shown by everyone. We both look forward to returning soon and meeting colleagues we were unable to see on this occasion.

Thursday saw me deputising for the Mayor again at the reopening of Newham College's Stratford Campus and its newly developed A Block. The formal reopening was carried out by James Asser MP. We were given a tour of the campus and the facilities are simply excellent. We also discussed the possibility of working with the College to provide housing management courses for Newham staff. The College already delivers construction skills training for Newham repair apprentices.

Afterwards, I met another councillor to discuss housing casework issues before attending a Teams one-to-one with a housing director. In the evening, I joined a residents' meeting in Massey Court, East Ham, alongside local councillors and officers to discuss fresh water pressure, anti-social behaviour, parking and concierge services. This was followed by a meeting of Newham Labour councillors.

Today, I visited a hostel run by Just Homes, a local charity, with the Mayor and my Cabinet colleague Susan Masters. By coincidence, I had previously met one of its principal supporters through my role as a trade union pension trustee. Following a presentation, we visited a new hostel site they are developing in Plaistow.

The remainder of the day was spent trying to catch up on phone calls, emails and reading papers. Another busy week lies ahead. I had hoped to catch up on everything today, but I failed miserably!

#Newham #WestHamWard #LocalGovernment #Housing #CommunityLeadership

Camden Families for Sagal - By election day

 

Late this afternoon, I joined hundreds of Labour Party activists at the UNISON headquarters on Euston Road to campaign in the Holborn & St Pancras by-election happening today. 

I was assigned as a board runner again—reluctantly, since I don’t know the area well and had a few “issues” earlier this week in the same role. Still, duty called, so I set off with a team of five, walking 13 minutes to Bloomsbury. 

By coincidence, I’d met everyone before in various Labour movement contexts over the years—great activists from Tower Hamlets, Barking & Dagenham, Croydon, and Barnet, with me representing Newham. 

We were sent to some beautiful on-street residential blocks managed by Camden Council, which I believe were compulsorily purchased in the 1960s or ’70s when they were run down and incredibly cheap compared to today. I climbed to the top of one staircase and found the roof door open, so I looked out and felt like I was in a Mary Poppins chimney scene!

The blocks seemed well managed and reportedly very spacious. Along the way, we met two local residents who were also Labour supporters, encouraging their neighbours to back Sagal. 

There were at least four canvassing teams from Newham Labour out tonight, including our Mayor, Forhad Hussain. 

I think the count is happening this evening—let’s see what happens. I’m hopeful, though politics is tricky to predict these days. While I worry about extremist politics on both the far left and far right, it’s nothing new in British politics, and I’m sure we’ll eventually navigate our way toward progressive change.

UPDATE: Great news. Sagal wins with significant majority. Burnham busts Green and Reform bubbles?

Busy Labour Movement Day 1

 

Yesterday I was at UNISON's National Centre in London (again, see my previous post), this time attending the UNISON Community Service Group Executive meeting as one of its elected NEC members.

I attended the morning session and, after lunch, briefly joined my branch's training day next door, taking part in the opening session before returning to the SGE meeting.

Later in the afternoon, I had to attend an urgent work meeting and unfortunately missed our Regional Labour Link meeting. However, the meeting was chaired by Yvonne Green, Croydon Branch Secretary and Regional Convenor. The photograph shows Yvonne Green alongside our Regional Secretary, Sara Gorton.

In the evening, I attended a Newham residents' Housing Surgery in Plaistow with local councillors. Staff from 11 housing teams were on hand for what proved to be a busy and well-attended drop-in session, providing residents with advice and support on a range of housing issues.

"On the knocker" for Sagal in Camden

On Saturday, after my Labour Councillor surgery in West Ham, I headed over to UNISON HQ to help campaign for Labour candidate Sagal in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election.

Sagal, the current Leader of Camden Council, was selected by local Labour Party members to contest the seat. There were hundreds of Labour members and supporters gathered for the 2pm canvassing session. I am somewhere in the crowd featured in the "Vote Labour" section of the photo collage above.

I joined a canvassing team that included Hackney Labour MP Meg Hillier, London Assembly Member Marina Ahmad, and Labour members from Hackney, Southwark and elsewhere across London.

Following a briefing from local organiser and campaign lead Liam Conlon MP, we travelled by Tube to our canvassing area. I had volunteered as the Labour doorstep "board runner", although everyone in our team was an experienced campaigner.

The biggest challenge was not the residents, who were generally friendly and willing to engage, but the wonderfully unusual internal layouts of some of the council housing blocks we were canvassing. We would start at the top of a block, only to find ourselves going down and back up several times to reach every flat. It certainly provided a good workout and was excellent for personal fitness!

My first and last conversations of the afternoon were both with strong Labour supporters, each scoring a 10 out of 10 for Sagal, and I did not encounter any negative comments. Fingers crossed for a positive result in the by-election on Thursday 8 October.

I hope to be back out campaigning alongside our Labour Mayor, Forhad Hussain, and fellow Newham Labour comrades before polling day.

If you are a Labour supporter and would like to get involved, you can volunteer through the Labour Party events website: https://events.labour.org.uk/

See you on the campaign trail!

Labour Party Conference 2026 - Day 4 Wednesday

The final day of Conference started at 9.30am, so there was no opportunity for a run along the Mersey. Instead, it was the usual routine of in-room exercises, packing, breakfast, checking out of the hotel, dropping off luggage, and then rushing to get to Conference in time for the start of proceedings.

There were more excellent debates and contributions from delegates throughout the morning. It was also great to see Prime Minister Andy Burnham at the close of Conference, while we all joined together to sing, rather badly in my case, The Red Flag by Jim Connell and the wonderful Jerusalem, based on the words of William Blake.

There is usually a good-natured debate about which song better captures Labour's values: Blake's vision of building a better society through hope, endeavour and national renewal, or Connell's explicitly socialist anthem celebrating solidarity and collective struggle. Personally, I enjoy both and don't see the need to choose between them in this day and age.

After Conference closed, I walked to Lime Street Station and was fortunate enough to find a seat with a table all the way back to Euston, giving me an opportunity to reflect on what had been a busy but positive few days.

Overall, I thought Conference had a noticeably more positive atmosphere than last year. There were good debates, strong contributions from UNISON Labour Link delegates, and a sense of purpose about the challenges facing the country and the Labour Government. It was an enjoyable and worthwhile Conference, as well as an excellent opportunity to catch up with comrades from across the Labour and trade union movement.

Most importantly, Andy and his team did well. While there will undoubtedly be plenty of arguments and challenges ahead, I left Conference more confident than when I arrived that Labour can govern well and deliver the change that people need.

Labour Party Conference 2026 - Day 3 Tuesday

 

Day Three started with another run along the Mersey. As I passed the Liver Building, I found myself looking up at the famous Liver Birds, which I could just about make out from my bedroom in Holywell as a boy on a particularly clear day.

Conference went well again, with a number of UNISON Labour Link delegates speaking in debates on motions and contributing to fringe meetings. However, the key event of the day was undoubtedly the Leader's speech.

Conference business finished early for lunch, but delegates had to return well before 2pm to queue for entry into the hall for the speeches by the Prime Minister and Andy Burnham.

I will leave detailed analysis of the speech to others, but I will simply say that it was probably the best leader's speech I have ever seen at a Labour Party Conference, and I have seen a great many over the years.

There was, understandably, a great deal of emotion when he spoke about the recent death of his father. At other times he was passionate, determined and angry about "the state we are in", while also offering a sense of hope that things can, and will, get better.

He has picked a number of fights with vested interests and, in each case, I find myself firmly on his side. Whether one agrees with every detail or not, it was a speech that demonstrated both political courage and conviction. I believe he can deliver on his ambitions, but it is going to be seriously difficult.

In the evening I attended the UNISON Labour Link reception, where there were a number of excellent speakers, including our very own, Angela Rayner MP and Joe Fortune, Labour's General Secretary.

Another memorable day at Conference.

Labour Party Conference 2026 - Day 2 Monday

 

Day Two of Conference started early with a 34-minute run along the Mersey and back. The weather was glorious, with blue skies and sunshine, a welcome contrast to the previous day's soaking.

Conference began at 10am, although we first had an early "huddle" of UNISON Labour Link delegates to agree the late-night decisions on compositing motions and discuss other pressing Conference business.

Once again, Conference appeared to go well. During the lunch break, I joined other Labour Link delegates in supporting a rally on migrant workers' rights. It was encouraging to see strong support for the contribution migrant workers make to our economy, public services and communities.

After the close of business, I met up with Labour Party members from Newham for a drink outside the historic dockers' pub, The Baltic Fleet. I then had to leave for the Local Authority Pension Fund Forum fringe meeting, Are We Ready for Climate Change? Protecting People, Places and Prosperity, held in partnership with the Fabian Society. I will post my speech from the event as a separate page linked to this post later. Many thanks to my fellow panellists and everyone who attended.

Afterwards, I rejoined Newham Labour members for a meal at a Turkish restaurant in Liverpool. I think this is now the third Conference in a row that we've visited it, which perhaps makes it something of a tradition.

Another good day at Conference. The formal debates, fringe meetings and informal conversations all reminded me that Conference is as much about relationships and shared purpose as it is about resolutions and speeches.

Labour Party Conference 2026 - Day 1 Sunday

 

Apologies for the belated posting.

The first full day of conference began for me at 9am with an in-person UNISON Labour Link delegation meeting. At this meeting we agreed our speakers, discussed our positions on motions, and dealt with a range of housekeeping issues. UNISON has one of the largest delegations at Conference, so these meetings are an important part of ensuring that our contribution is coordinated and effective.

Conference itself started at 11am. We were seated as a delegation on the far left of the conference floor facing the podium (no pun intended!).

As is customary, there was a report from the Conference Arrangements Committee, along with a number of reference back requests from delegates who were unhappy with how their motions had been dealt with. Compared with previous conferences, however, proceedings seemed to be relatively straightforward and attracted far less controversy than I have seen in the past.

Labour Party Conference remains, in my view, even more complicated and bewildering than a UNISON conference, and many first-time delegates to UNISON find those challenging enough. Nevertheless, there was a good mix of party business, government and party leadership speeches, and floor debates. Overall, the day appeared to run smoothly. Unlike a trade union conference, Labour Conference combines party democracy, government business, policy development and internal party procedure, making it a unique and sometimes bewildering experience for delegates

What struck me most was the atmosphere. There was definitely a more positive feeling around Conference than there was last year. While there will always be disagreements and procedural arguments, there seemed to be a greater sense of confidence and purpose among delegates.

After the close of business, I attended the Labour-affiliated trade union rally with my Newham CWU comrade and cycling champion, Richard. I then had to leave early for a walk along the Mersey to attend a private event with fellow Labour housing leads, getting thoroughly soaked in the process thanks to the Liverpool weather. As someone born and brought up not far away in North East Wales this should have come as no surprise but I had still forgotten to take an umbrella. 

My final event of the day was the Labour Friends of Bangladesh dinner, one of my favourite Conference events. Although I arrived rather late, it was still a pleasure to attend.

All in all, it was a good start to Conference.