Vote for the Labour Party Candidate, Gordon Miller, in Aylesford Green Ward By-Election Thursday November 19 2015

Good luck to Gordon and the Labour team in Ashford for tomorrow.

UPDATE:
What a shame. Gordon lost by 4 votes! Politics is a cruel game at times but a great result that Labour got a third of the vote in Tory heartland.

Adrian John Gee-Turner	Liberal Democrats	42
Alex Howard	The Conservative Party Candidate	110 Elected
Christine Ann Kathawick-Smith	Ashford Independent	92
Gordon Miller	Labour Party	106
Thom Pizzey	The Green Party	10
Harriet Bronwen Yeo	UK Independence Party (UKIP)	109

Aylesford Green By-Election

Today I drove down to Ashford in Kent with two other West Hammers, Anamul and Aleen,  to support our former CLP Vice Chair, Gordon Miller.  Gordon is standing to be a borough Councillor in Aylesbury Green ward. This is a Labour marginal seat so every vote will count.

On the way down it was pouring with rain and we speculated whether we will be door knocking or getting slightly less wet by delivering leaflets. Remembering Gordon's campaigning energy and enthusiasm, I had little doubt that he would have us door knocking.  So it proved. Despite Gordon and his agent Caroline being already soaked from the morning session, they were still up for speaking to residents.

The rain held off a bit and the canvass itself was actually quite fun, chatting to residents about local and national issues. While there is differences in the canvass returns for Labour compared to that in West Ham, there is strong support for Labour, even in so called Conservative "heartlands". It reminds me that it was in rural England not the cities that the Labour movement first started.

Afterwards we warmed up and dried out in the local pub "William  Harvey" in Church Road. Anamul had a Nepalese curry cooked by the former British Army Gurkha landlord, which he said was as good as any in Green Street.

Tomorrow more West Hammers will be driving down to help out but after this we will be concentrating on our own Newham by-election in Boleyn ward and supporting our candidate Veronica Oakshott.

The Aylesford Green by election is next Thursday 19 November 2015. If you can help out then let Gordon know via Facebook "Ashford Labour" or @Ashfordlabour.

 UPDATE:
What a shame. Gordon lost by 4 votes! Politics is a cruel game at times but a great result that Labour got a third of the vote in a Tory heartland.

Adrian John Gee-Turner	Liberal Democrats	42
Alex Howard	The Conservative Party Candidate	110 Elected
Christine Ann Kathawick-Smith	Ashford Independent	92
Gordon Miller	Labour Party	106
Thom Pizzey	The Green Party	10
Harriet Bronwen Yeo	UK Independence Party (UKIP)	109

Door knocking and talking in West Ham

Last Saturday I went door knocking in my ward, West Ham, with 2014 candidate John Whitworth and Plaistow South Candidate, Gordon Mackinnon-Miller.

The weather looked uncertain but we decided to take the risk of rain and "door knock" Corporation Street, E15.

This is the longest residential street in the ward. It is an interesting mixture of  mostly terrace housing -  freehold, leasehold, private rented but also Council and Housing Association.

It is a little unclear but this reference in Newham Story about housing history in Newham suggests that the the maisonettes in the street are historic "double houses".  

"The earliest council dwellings (1899-1905) were much better adapted to the needs of working-class tenants than those of the private builders. Most of them were two-storey 'double houses' with a flat on each floor. The flats varied in size from two to four rooms, with a wash-house to each flat. The original design was by Lewis Angell (borough surveyor 1867-99) who believed that such dwellings were 'healthier and more humanising ... especially for children', than large 'barrack-like' blocks of flats. The largest estate, at Wise Road, Stratford (94 flats and 11 single houses) survives, along with others in Bethell Avenue, Plaistow, and in Eve and Corporation Streets, West Ham"

Most homes in Corporation Street are owner occupied or private rented. Zoopla estimates average house price of £249,396 in the area and average rent in E15 is £1,623 per month. According to Tesco Finance such a repayment mortgage would cost £1390 per month.

How on earth anyone can afford rent or mortgage of £400 per week is just beyond me?

During the doorstep I spoke to a resident who was overcrowded in his home and had 9 children. He asked what I could to do to help him get  a bigger place. I told him that I cannot interfere in the allocation process but if he has been not dealt with properly under Council procedures then I would support him.  He seemed content with this.

When I asked one household if they supported Labour, I was told of course we do, we are a Labour family.

I spoke to a young man who lived with his mum, who said he had never voted and knew nothing about politics. He asked me "can you really change things" I said yes we can and handed out a leaflet on Labour plans to freeze energy prices as an example.

One resident told me that she had went to school with Stratford Councillor, Terry Paul. I immediately asked her if she had any embarrassing stories she could tell me about Terry to tease him. Then we thought about it and agreed that there is nothing we can say that would ever embarrass Terry.

I had a good conversation with a wavering Labour/Green who was undecided how she would vote but said "its nice to get a visit anyway". 

At the very last house on our list, John Whitworth had a very angry woman complaining about East Europeans, getting drunk in the streets, taking jobs and houses. She said she had a black partner and was not at all racist. John tried to suggest that perhaps East Europeans were doing jobs that many Brits did not want to do and that the reason why there is a housing problem in London is due to us not building enough. But she was not having any of it.

While I have a zero tolerance of anyone who is drunk and abusive or leave litter, I do clearly remember canvassing in the past before we had migration from East Europe and hearing pretty much the same comments and complaints over housing and jobs about Asians and West Indians.

West Ham (CLP) Story

This is two great picture collages of all the successful West Ham Constituency Labour Party Candidates and some of their supporters that took place in the selection process last weekend. West Ham CLP selections took place in the Old Town Hall in Stratford while East Ham CLP took place in the Newham Town Hall.

You can check all the Newham results via the @newhamlabour twitter account.

Hat tip Photos Gordon Miller.

West Ham Labour Party AGM 2013 results

Picture is from the end of tonight's West Ham CLP AGM and of some of the new "dream team" Executive also celebrating the 65th birthday of the NHS.

58 delegates crowded into the Party rooms at 306 High Street, Stratford, E15. Best attendance since 1980s according to one delegate.

Can't think why? :)

For contested positions we had one minute hustings then ballot. It all went pretty smoothly.

From left - Julianne Marriot, new vice Chair Campaigns & Communications; Terry Paul, re-elected Assistant Secretary; Gordon Miller, re-elected Agent and new Vice Chair membership, Charlene McLean, re-elected Chair; Alan Griffiths, re-elected Secretary and Anne Easter, new Women's officer.

Not in photo was John Saunders, re-elected Treasurer; John Whitworth, re-elected political officer;   Winston Vaughan, re-elected as Equalities Officer; Kim Silver, re-elected as Trade Union Liaison officer; Ahmed Noor, re-elected as Social officer. Apologies if I have missed anyone out?

Kim and I were also re-elected to the Executive Committee as 2 of the 4 trade union delegates.

West Ham Labour Party AGM 2012

Tonight was the Annual General Meeting of West Ham Labour Party. The Party Rooms in Stratford were packed with delegates from all our wards, trade union affiliates and socialist societies.

Picture left (and congratulations) is of our new Chair, Charlene McLean, seen here promoting the TUC March in March last year.

The Party Rooms themselves were unrecognisable since they had been freshly painted and re-carpeted. We are hiring the rooms out to a local History society who will be using it as a special museum during the Olympics (I'll post full details another time).

I did ask the outgoing Chair, Conor McAuley, at the beginning of the AGM if I could tweet during the meeting and he said there is nothing he can do to stop people texting or tweeting what was going on. I've used these tweets to make this post.

Conor is stepping down as Chair because he felt after 6 years it was time to give someone younger (and skip a generation) the chance to take positions of responsibility in the local Party. He was given a vote of thanks and applause for his long service to the Party as Chair.

During reports we learnt that membership has increased by 128 since the last AGM. Also that during the last election we had delivered the Labour vote (alas not enough to elect Ken).

I will post full details on the elections when I have checked I have got everything right. I stepped down from Agent/ Campaigner Co-ordinator since I have completely over stretched myself and the poisoned chalice (a term that all agents from all parties will recognise) has passed to Gordon Miller! I am still a trade union rep on the General and Executive Committee (for my sins).

During AOB the Keir Hardie tour next week was plugged and the coming by election in Wanstead and Leyton. Afterwards, off to the Golden Grove pub for more politics and of course lots of gossip.

West Ham 6 play Millwall 4 (Abbas as Labour Mayor)

Apologies for post title but I just couldn't resist it. Yesterday I was out with a canvass team led by West Ham MP, Lyn Brown in Millwall, Isle of Dogs, Tower Hamlets.  We were campaigning for the Labour Party Candidate for Mayor, Helal Abbas.

Last Saturday about 40 activists from Newham helped out with the campaign. 

The meeting point was in Copenhagen Place which I thought was fortuitous considering the election will be held this week on Trafalgar Day.  We were sent off to knock on doors.  The reaction from voters was again very positive. 

One person told me that he and his family will be definitely be voting Labour on Thursday "we don't want our Council tax in the hands of George Galloway for the next 4 years".  I told him I couldn't possibly comment :)

I also knocked on the door of the Chief Executive of a well know East London voluntary sector organisation and had a chat.

What is strange is that I work in Tower Hamlets and have been campaigning a few times now and I have never seen any of the opposition parties out door knocking or delivering leaflets?  Instead it appears from this report by independent local blogger, Ted Jeory, that for some - most effort has been in simply smearing Abbas and trying to poison the community against him.

Respect are up to their old tricks I see.

I posted on Facebook the other day this great quote from local MP Rushanara Ali "What’s at stake next Thursday is a billion pound budget, in one the most vibrant and diverse boroughs at the heart of our capital. For the people of Tower Hamlets this isn’t about personalities, it’s about the real issues – schools, housing, jobs and the economy. This is no time for a Galloway-backed independent who appeals to the margins and wants to turn the clock back to the politics of the past".  The bile it generated from Labour opponents was great fun.

Election is on 21 October - Campaign office is at 349 Cambridge Heath Road, London, E2 9RA - 3 mins from Bethnal Green tube and is open for canvassing and leafleting from 10am-until late every day until the election. Or you can ring 0207 729 6682 or email abbas4mayor@gmail.com for further details.

Picture is from left: Newham Councillor Charity Fiberesima, Gordon Miller, Lyn, Councillor Pat Murphy (honorary West Hammer for day) and John Cullen.