West Ham then Plaistow West & Canning Town East with Lyn Brown MP ("We Stand with Ukraine" Street)

Canvasing pictures from West Ham Ward this week and the new Plaistow West & Canning Town East Ward today with our local MP, Lyn Brown. 

In West Ham ward we had a stall outside the station with Canning Town North and we did the two tower blocks in Leather Gardens (many thanks to Jordan from UNISON Voluntary orgs branch for joining us). 

A pretty positive response apart from one resident who was very angry that he had not been able to move from his overcrowded flat and blamed the Council for this failure. I tried to explain that we have a massive housing shortage in Newham and we need a change of Government to solve this crisis but I knew he was so angry that he would not listen. 

Today after picking up our new GTVO leaflets from printers the West Ham candidates myself, John Whitworth and Charlene Mclean had a last week of election planning meeting then I went to pick Lyn up for the PWCTE session. 

This was another great canvassing session (with Cara the Labour attack dog) and I was very impressed with one street where they had so many pro Ukraine leaflets in their windows. They had also raised money for War relief charities. Well done! 

In the afternoon I had the joy of Labour Group officers then a very good training on Election Day and "The Count". 

West Hammers help out in East Ham Central By Election

Yesterday evening I went out on the Labour doorstep with our West Ham MP, Lyn Brown and Cara (the infamous Labour attack dog) to support Farah Nazeer, our Labour candidate in East Ham Central by election on Thursday May 6 (and our London Mayoral Candidate, Sadiq Khan and local East London Assembly member, Unmesh Desai).

We joined local Councillors Susan Masters and Alan Griffiths (Agent). Despite a mixture of sunshine and showers the canvass went really well with pretty extraordinary high levels of Labour support. 

We also came across some beautiful urban gardens. 

Using the Labour Party mobile "doorstep" appears to work really well. No more soggy paper canvass sheets to try and fill out in the rain. 

West Ham plays at home then away at Thurrock and also Westminster #GE2019

This morning I went to a joint West Ham & East Ham Labour stall in Green Street to join our Labour Party Candidates, Lyn Brown and Stephen Timms. This was supposed to be a meeting point for our members to then go off and campaign in our marginal seats. I must admit to have been just a little frustrated at the constant calls for photo after photo rather than going out to the marginals but such is life. But if we don't go out and win our marginal seats in this general election, then we might as well just tell Boris to keep the keys to Number 10.

Happily, many members then went off to campaign in the marginal seats. I went with Lyn (and Cara our Labour attack dog, see picture of her and Lyn in Woolf Street) to Thurrock to support local Labour candidate, John Kent, who is seeking to overturn a 345 Tory majority. While other activists went with our Newham Mayor, Rokhsana Fiaz, to support Gordon Nardell in the Cities & Westminster marginal.

I was very impressed with the Thurrock Labour Party campaign headquarters (Tilbury office, 10 Commonwealth House, Montreal Rd, RM18 7QX, there is nearby parking and they will pick you up from the station if you ring beforehand 07434 446148) they were very well organised, had food and drink and were very welcoming!

We went door knocking with a mostly West Ham team. We had a local Cllr, Lynn Worrall, with us. I was running the board (I had the list of addresses that the team had to call on and recorded the results). I gave both Lyns the difficult addresses, where it was known that these residents were opposed to Labour, It was a really good canvass and John Kent is obviously well respected as a real local candidate.

There was a little fuss and bother over #CaraGate, when one resident objected to Lyn Brown bringing Cara onto her property since they had cats. Cara was on a lead and there was no sign of said cats but Cara did unfortunately decide at that moment to have a little "sprinkle" in the garden, which as you can imagine, did not go down that well.

I should have sent Lynn W to that address since she later said that she went to school with that resident's father.

Apart from that it was a remarkably good canvass with lots of residents being supportive of John Kent who recognised that we need to get him elected as their MP.

Drakes Walk Walkabout (2)

This is a great picture from this morning of Newham residents, Officers (and myself) at the end of a "walkabout" in Drakes Walk, East Ham.

I am really pleased that the estate is looking far better than it did in March during a previous "walkabout" and it was good to have caretaking, repairs and environment officers with us this time.

As well as the most friendly little dog (front left) I have met in ages (sorry Cara, you have a rival).

There was a long list of repairs and improvements but I feel confident that we will make a difference in our residents lives by such joint walkabouts (every month for tall blocks and every 3 months for low rise) and putting them at the heart of everything we do.

UNISON Labour Link campaigning for Labour in Kent Council elections Thursday 2 May

On Thursday I went to support Labour candidates standing in the local elections in Kent. There were no London Council elections this year. Our West Ham Labour MP, Lyn Brown (a long standing UNISON member and Shadow Finance Minister) came along with Cara, her Labour attack dog as well as the Chair of West Ham ward, Ian Mills. .

We firstly went to support Lola Oyewusi, who is my UNISON branch assistant secretary who was standing for Labour in Tonbridge and Malling to be a Councillor. She also had support from her fellow Jo Cox Leadership colleague, Olga FitzRoy.  Sadly Lola was not elected in this safe Tory ward but she was elected to her parish council as the first ever Black Female Councillor! Well done Lola!

London UNISON Labour Link had been asked to support Gravesham. Lyn, Ian, Cara and I went door knocking to "encourage" Labour voters to come out to vote.  The local Labour Party was well organised and the lists of Labour supporters who we were targeted to "knock up" and remind them to vote was very accurate. Which is let me say, not always the case.

I carried on the West Ham tradition of buying everyone an ice cream 99 chocolate flake.

Great news that that Labour took control of the Council on Thursday and in that ward, Labour won all of the seats (and the Kent Council by election). Excellent!

I had to get back to Newham for my Councillor surgery, to be a judge at our borough school public speaking competition then go to a leaving do for a much valued Council officer.

Re-electing Lyn Brown in Green Street & Forest Gate

College is from Sundays morning canvass in Green Street West and the afternoon session in Forest Gate North. Our Parliamentary candidate, Lyn Brown, was there to support us with Cara, her famous Yorkshire terrier Labour attack dog.

We first met outside the new East Shopping centre. There was enough activists for 3 separate canvass teams. It was good to see a number of young people participating. Elsewhere, West Ham Labour Party members were campaigning at Ilford North, Croydon and Westminster North.  .

We went to Ferndale Road and along St Georges Avenue E7.  What was interesting (to me) is that most of these terrace houses had a gargoyle (or Grotesque) just below the roof. It appears to be a medieval King's head with a beard and crown. No-one knew why they were there or who it was supposed to be but thought it was probably intended to be an image of St George.

There was very strong Labour support and goodwill towards Lyn. The issues I came across on the doorstep were largely local. Litter, fly tipping, anti-social behaviour, suggestion of knocking down underused garages to build homes.  The session finished with an "off the cuff" general discussion on the street with Lyn, local residents and ward councillors on how to improve the area.

Afterwards I had to go home and print off canvass sheets for the afternoon canvass in Forest Gate. Again, other West Ham activists were at the marginal seats.

This was another successful doorknock in a solid Labour area but this time more challenging questions and comments about national issues.  We had to send people back to look for Lyn who was often tied up in friendly but intense debates on Labour policies and priorities.

It was good to see new members turn up who have never been canvassing before. What you do is you pair new canvassers with more experienced ones until they feel comfortable to knock on doors by themselves. At this point in the campaign the aim is to identify the Labour vote and encourage them to vote in the election. On the canvass sheet residents, who are also Labour Party members are identified and it is simply astonishing how many members there are now.

Top team canvasser again was Stuart who "persuaded" (compliance unit please be aware) 10 households to take a "re-elect Lyn Brown" poster to put on their window.

After the canvass we went for a relaxing outdoor drink (and food)  in "The Avenue".

Hat tip to photos stolen from twitter and Facebook. 

GE2017: West Hammers in Forest Gate South & Ilford North

After a week in North Wales celebrating my Mum's 76th, visiting family (and sneaked in a couple of hill walks) I drove back to London yesterday and today started campaigning in the Ilford North marginal then met up with West Ham CLP officers to agree our campaign plan, timetable and budget.

West Ham members had been out last week on the local campaign trail and in Ilford North on Saturday as well.

I was with our MP Lyn Brown (and Cara - her Labour attack dog) while in Ilford North. The response we got this afternoon in a Redbridge Tory ward was overwhelmingly positive. The current Labour MP, Wes Streeting, who beat the Tories by some 500 votes to take the seat in 2015 was praised by constituents for being an active and hard working constituency Member Parliament.

Custom House for Sadiq Khan as London Labour Mayor

Picture from a cold, wet, windy canvass session this morning in Custom House, West Ham. Lyn Brown MP (and her little Labour attack dog, Cara), Local Councillors and Party activists were out knocking on doors, talking to residents and asking them to support Sadiq as our next London Mayor in May.

Custom House is a Labour heartland but it was still humbling to see the instinctive support we get from so many life long committed supporters.The message we have to get out is that due to PR,  every single vote will count in the May elections.

Newham voters could end up deciding whether or not we have another rich multi-millionaire, old Etonian as London Mayor or a proper Londoner. 

West Ham at Wes' Birthday Canvass

Today is the birthday of Labour candidate for Ilford North Parliamentary seat, Wes Streeting.

So instead of giving him a well deserved day off, his campaign team designated it as "Wes Birthday Canvass Day" and arranged 3 separate #labourdoorstep sessions.

West Ham went to the 2pm session and took part in a number of campaign teams, while our MP, Lyn Brown, ran a telephone canvass session in the CLP HQ (Lyn is out of door knocking action at moment due to a serious knee injury).

My team was led by Newham's youngest Councillor, Seyi Akiwowo, who enjoyed bossing us about and sending us hither and thither. After we finished I had an unusual telephone conversation with a West Ham CLPer, who asked me if I remembered where they had parked their car? (they eventually found it).

Double click to enlarge picture and check out the top right of collage for photo of show stealer, Cara.

Election Day West Ham Ward 2014

This post is about my day as a Labour Councillor candidate last Thursday on Election day.

It started at 7am outside the polling station in West Ham Church School in the Portway, E15. This was one of 4 polling stations in West Ham Ward, Newham. My fellow Labour candidate Freda Vaughan was outside Vicarage Lane polling station while John Whitworth was covering Manor School.

In the morning it was blue skies & sunshine. It was quiet but there was a steady flow of voters. I went and introduced myself to the Presiding officer and staff at Church and then Ranelagh school.

We are allowed to speak to voters outside the school gates, ask them to vote for us and offer a leaflet. After a stream of "Don't need to ask, I'm voting Labour", "Labour all the way", broad grins, thumbs up and even pats on my back, I had one women shout at me that she wouldn't vote for Labour, she was a real socialist and we should shoot that **** of a leader. I wasn't sure if she meant Ed Miliband or Robin Wales but I responded by telling her that we did not want her support and that she is barred from voting Labour! When she came back she seemed to have changed her mind somewhat and said a cheery "Good luck anyway".

After 10am there was a lull and I had a full English breakfast with Freda at Solmos cafe. John had to go to work (he is a teacher at a FE college and could not take the day off).

When we came back to the polling stations we found out that the Tories had arrived! Conservative candidate Matej was born in Slovenia. He seemed a decent bloke but when I asked him what motivated him politically to be a Conservative candidate in the UK he didn't really give me an answer.

I didn't have a conversation with Farahana (see photo collage) who was the Asian British female Tory candidate but did speak to her friends and family who were supporting her (none of whom lived in Newham). It was clear that they were not actual Conservative Party supporters. They would support Labour during the general election but felt that in Newham the local Party leadership was arrogant and would not listen to their concerns.

The 3rd Tory candidate was Mary (see photo collage) who was far too nice to be a real Tory and admitted that she had been "volunteered" to be a candidate.

Unlike elsewhere in the borough, where there was disgusting Respect style intimidation and violence by so called "Conservative" supporters, the West Ham ward "Tories" and their supporters were friendly and pleasant. A little over enthusiastic at times and strong believers that they could convince voters to support their cause at the door of the polling station.

I accepted a soft drink from one of the Tories and posted on Facebook - is this "treating" and does this make me a class traitor?

Some of the voters were rather direct and rude to the Tories. In particular those who were suffering from the impact of the bedroom tax.

The weather changed and it poured down for a while but then cleared up.

We had a number of local Party volunteers to fly the flag outside polling stations including Veronica and her baby! Normally I would not have spent all the time on polling stations and instead would be "knocking up" Labour supporters and reminding them to vote. However, we decided to keep an eye on the Tories. I also "stole" top UNISON canvasser, Montrose Matty (white tee-shirt) from Plaistow North ward to help keep them in line.

Monty and I noticed that the family supporters of Tory candidate Farahana were encouraging people only to vote for her "number 5"on the ballot paper. We decided to helpfully pass on this information to the other two Tory candidates. This caused some upset in the "blue" team.

In the evening our local MP, Lyn Brown (and Cara, her Labour attack terrier) joined us on the polling stations. At 10pm the polling stations closed and we went off for pizza and red, red wine

West Ham & Stratford Super Saturday

This morning and afternoon we went door knocking in some of our West Ham ward high rise and tower blocks.

We had been keeping them back this campaign to canvass when it has been raining but so far (touch wood) we have been really lucky with the weather.

During our lunch break I went with my fellow West Hammer candidate, John Whitworth, to Stratford ward who had a "Super Saturday" with our MP, Lyn Brown, (and Cara the Labour attack dog).

I spent some time with an elderly resident who has lived in her block for 50 years. Who wanted to tell me what life was like when she first moved into West Ham. She still likes living here and her neighbours but due to mobility problems finds it hard to go to the supermarkets in Stratford.  She  wishes that all the local bakeries, greengrocers and butchers she remembers from 1964 were still around. 

I also had some good natured banter with some cheeky West Ham youngsters playing football in the street who with glee rescued our canvass team when we got locked inside a communal garden area.  

While many things have indeed changed in the last 50 years, I bet that the kids playing football in Cridland Street, E15 have changed not one bit.

Click on photo to bring up detail.

Custom House SuperSaturday

Some pictures from the West Ham Labour Party "Super Saturday" doorstep at Custom House.

Organised by our MP Lyn Brown (and supported of course by Cara, the Labour attack dog - see top left and right photo).

I believe we had 19 activists turn up in total.

We started off in my team at "Meadowsweet Close".  A very rural name. Local Councillor Pat Holland (see picture with Lyn) remembers as a child going Blackberry picking in this area (NB nothing to do with smartphones).

There is a large East European community in the area. I met a resident who was Hungarian, who was impressed that I had a Uncle who was also Hungarian, who came over as a refugee following the revolution in 1956. I remember him teaching me how to play very serious chess as a boy.

It made me also remember that East Europeans in the UK is nothing new. A close trade union friend and colleague (very sadly no longer with us) was the son of a Free Polish Army fighter as was my former manager's husband. While of course in the recent past, East London use to have one of the largest East European Jewish communities in the world.

It made me think "There is nothing new in the world except the history you do not know"
Harry S. Truman

Door knocking in Butchers Road, Canning Town

Picture from this Saturday's door knock in Canning Town South, Newham organised by our local MP Lyn Brown (seen in bottom left with our favourite Labour attack dog, Cara, the Yorkshire Terrier)

We were split into pairs by Ward organiser, Alan Griffiths which personally I think is too small a team for a canvass but his argument was it prevented the chatting and gossiping you get in larger teams....As if Labour Party activists ever gossiped!

I was paired with Canning Town South Councillor, Bryan Collier MBE. Who is I think universally recognised as a hard working, dedicated and competent Councillor and  community activist. Bryan was for many years an Environmental Health Officer and UNISON member in one of my favourite branches, Lambeth local government.

We went to a relatively new block in Butchers Road, Canning Town managed by L&Q Housing Association.

The first home we visited were enthusiastic Labour supporters and pleased with free school meals for their children and that their son was learning to play the violin at school under the "every child a musician" programme. Their young son who was present didn't seem to share their enthusiasm quite so much but wouldn't it be brilliant if Canning Town was known in the future as the home of a violin maestro!

We had some fun and games trying to get into the block. There was no "drop key" panel which made me wonder how the emergency services can gain immediate access to the block? There was probably the most sophisticated door entry system I ever come across. When you rang a door number, if it was not answered it was transferred to the occupants’ mobile phone number. We were eventually let in by a resident who was not even at home (or so he told us I suppose).

The block was in a good condition (well done to caretakers, maintenance and management staff).  There were complaints by residents about anti-social behaviour by some local children in the car park and people leaving rubbish bags outside the communal bin areas. Bryan has already held one meeting with L&Q, local sector Police and residents about this problem and will see about holding another.

The very positive response to Labour that we received did surprise me a little since many residents were not originally from Newham. Bryan was recognised by some as a good local Councillor but without being at all flippant or complaisant in the slightest, we had some very good and interesting canvass returns.

Labour Attack Dog Supports #tuc12 March

Well, picture is from yesterday's West Ham Labour Party and trade union stall in Stratford High Street  supporting next week's TUC March against Austerity and for an alternative economic policy.

Labour Attack dog, Yorkshire terrier Cara, is seen in arms of her owner, local MP Lyn Brown . Cara was certainly one of our chief assets on the stall. People were queueing up to give her a stroke and a cuddle. Any opposition faced being licked to death by Cara.

This gave us the opportunity to encourage Newham residents and trade union members who haven't so far made other arrangements to meet up next Saturday 20 October at 10am outside Stratford Station to travel down to the embankment to march together.

Check out why Newham residents and trade unionists are marching here and here. 

DOWN WITH THE TORY DOGS!

...and Vote for Cara! In the 2012 Westminster Dog of the Year competition. West Ham Labour MP Lyn Brown's pet Cara is up against dastardly Tory and Lib Dem opposition.

Cara is a one year old Yorkshire Terrier and is often seen out campaigning for Labour in West Ham and other parts of the UK.

(yes, this is the silly season but an election is an election. So spread the word)