Tonii Wilson wins Beckton By Election for Labour

Congratulations to Newham Councillor Tonii Wilson who was elected last night for Beckton Ward (seen in between existing Cllrs David Christie and Ayesha Chowdhury)

The by-election was caused by the death after a short illness of Cllr Alec Kellaway.

I have previously described Tonii as "supernice" and she is - but I also admire her determination and evident hard work during the campaign.

Thanks are also due to the Agent, Alan Davies, who has run a great campaign.

The actual results were as followed:-

Syed Hussain Ahmed ​        Conservative ​584

​Mark Dunne    ​                    Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition ​21

​Jane Alison Lithgow   ​        Green  ​70        ​

​David Mears                       ​UK Independence (UKIP) ​215          ​

​Kayode Shedowo               ​Christian Peoples Alliance      ​33        ​

David Thorpe  ​                   Liberal Democrat        ​43

​Tonii Wilson    ​                  Labour ​1,006   ​

Turnout was low at 18.87 which is something that politicians do need to do something about. The irony in Newham is that the higher the turnout usually means the higher is the Labour vote.

It was good to see that ultra Tory UKIP running a very poor third. While TUSC came bottom with 21 votes (the 1%ers).

Beckton By Election Labour doorstep

Last night I joined the Labour Candidate for the Newham Council Beckton By election, Tonii Wilson, for a doorknock in the Windsor Park Estate. Tonii will make an excellent candidate for the ward. Local MP Stephen Timms also joined us

It was touching that so many residents told us how upset they were at the unexpected death of Cllr Alec Kelloway. Many people knew him and recounted what he had done to help them.

I went with local Councillor David Christie.  There was a very positive Labour response. While there was a number of complaints about local social landlord, East Thames Housing Association, failure to maintain the local environment, I actually thought that there had been an improvement to the area in recent years but obviously there needs to be more done.

I understand that there has been a number of high profile evictions of criminal residents in recent years which have had a significant positive impact. Good.

I must admit to being intrigued about the unusual street names in the area such as "Warwell" and "Horse Leaze". No-one seemed to know why. I am sure Alec would have known and told me exactly why.

I spoke to a very sensible young man who had been born and brought up on the estate who agreed that there had been improvements but thought that there needs to be more youth services in the area. I see the local community centre has now been closed by East Thames?

I'm sure that Tonii and the current Councillors, David and Ayesha will be doing what they can to improve services.

I will post a personal tribute to Cllr Alec Kellaway in the near future.

Olympic Anniversary Run 2013

I still can't quite believe that the London Olympics have been and gone (and its now almost a year since!).

Life in Newham has pretty much returned to normal but the Olympic Park (now renamed the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park) is there to remind us that it was all not a dream

This morning I took part in a 5 mile Anniversary run around the Olympic Park finishing off in the Stadium itself.

There were I believe about 12000 runners. The weather was warm but thankfully overcast so not too hot.

It was a strange feeling waiting for the start amidst all these thousands of like minded strangers dressed in the same blue National Lottery tee-shirts.  We were divided into white, red, green and pink sections and while we waited we were blasted with very loud "motivation music" with lots of bass. Pretty much everyone was cheerful and eager to go but a little apprehensive.

I wonder why we do this? I thought we are supposed to be living in an "individualist" society. Does this sort of thing appeal to some sort of collective race memory? Who knows (or cares).

The run itself went okay although at the beginning a little crowded in places so you had to walk for a bit then run then walk again.  You could not avoid bumping into people but nearly everyone was very "English" about things with lots of "sorry" and "excuse me".

It was superb to run again through the Olympic park. The waterways and green spaces are just absolutely stunning. I can still remember the awful industrial estate and ugly railway sidings that were there when I used to cycle to work from Forest Gate to Bow.

I had a bit of a panic when I saw a 3 mile marker when I was expecting the 4 mile one but thankfully I was looking at the wrong marker.

The best part was the final 300m along the Olympic Stadium running track to the finish line with the crowd cheering and clapping. That was a long, long 300m mind!

At the end we picked up our goodie bags and medals. As we went out of the park families and young children were streaming into it for their run.

I walked back to Forest Gate feeling pretty happy and content with myself albeit just a little sore.

(Picture of fellow Councillor David Christie bottom left and I have stolen his great pic of the "medal and Tortoise" from Facebook. Also Newham Labour Candidate 2014 James Beckles top right)

Newham Councillors Bike Ride

The picture collage is from this mornings bicycle ride of Newham Councillors and local residents which was led by members of the London Cycling Campaign (LCC). I think there was in total 14 Newham Councillors that turned up for the ride which started at the View Tube cafe which overlooks the Olympic Park in Stratford.

The ride had been organised by Newham Cycling Tzar, Cllr David Christie.  The weather was lovely (as it always is in Newham of course) and cycling around the beautiful waterways and historic buildings of our borough was great fun and fasinating.

I had cycled into work from Forest Gate to Bow for over 10 years and I had thought that I knew all the good cycling routes but I was totally wrong.

We ended up at with tea and coffee at the "Docklands Community Boat" in Cody Dock (named incredibly after American cowboy and showman Buffalo Bill).

I think that Newham has a fantastic future not only a place that people want to work, live and stay but also visit, explore and enjoy.

I will post more pictures on Facebook next. Update: Check link here for album.