West Ham & East Ham Labour Campaigning Weekend

This is another picture collage of West Ham (and East Ham) Labour out campaigning this weekend.

There is a Stratford & New Town ward team in Abbey Lane, E15. While East and West Ham activists were out Sunday morning with Ilford South, Mike Gapes. In the afternoon, Stephen Twigg was at Ilford North to show support. I went door knocking with Tower Hamlets Councillors, Josh Peck, Danny Hassell and Redbridge Councillor, Stuart Bellwood.

We went to Roding ward where we a pretty good response. I spoke to a number of residents who despite being in their 20's were first time voters intending to vote in this election and those who were genuinely undecided who to vote for and were up for a  political conversation.

At one home Danny knocked at an enormous Rottweiler dog charged out of the doorway despite being called back by its owner, but after a few dodgy seconds we realised that it was very friendly and in fact as soft as butter.

Back at the Ilford North Campaign base I spoke to a fellow North Walian about Labour chances in Clwyd (North Wales) and than ran into more West Hammers returning from another door knocking team.

I couldn't resist including the fanatic picture of Labour Leader, Ed Miliband and the Chester Hen Party (top right) nor the picture of baby Juniper (daughter of Cllr Farah Nazeer) with the Kinnocks in Hampstead & Kilburn. 

A UK Foreign Policy for the Middle East - Newham Compass 17 Feb 2015

This is going to be a really interesting event. It clashes with my UNISON branch AGM. Which is a real shame as Mike is always an entertaining speaker and was the former chair of the foreign affairs select committee.

First Ilford North canvass 2015

On Saturday my Council surgery went over by 30 minutes due to a queue of constituents wanting help  about serious housing matters. It was very grim. We just desperately need to build more homes. 

In the afternoon I went on a #labourdoorstep in Ilford North with West Ham CLPers and Prospective Parliamentary Candidate Wes Streeting. Ilford South MP Mike Gapes also joined in as well as another 7 Redbridge canvassers.

I knocked on one door with a West Ham Party member who had never been canvassing before. After telling him that there was very rarely any problem whatsoever when you go door knocking, I was somewhat concerned when the door opened to see a small woman struggling to hold back what seemed to be an enormous bulldog from "greeting us"!

We actually had quite a reasonable conversation with the woman. She said (in between trying to hold her dog still) that she voted Conservative last time and was considering voting UKIP next. She said she regretted voting Tory because in 2010 she used to have a house but had been forced to move into this flat. Which was I believe a reference to bedroom tax. She finished by saying she would consider voting Labour.

I asked Mike Gapes who was the most experienced canvasser amongst us how many homes had he knocked on while campaigning. He laughed and said possibly millions. He first went out canvassing in 1969 with Ilford Young Socialists. Since then he had campaigned all over the country as well as various parts of the world for sister Labour parties.

Ilford North are very hospitable  and afterwards we went for a quick drink in the Fairlop Arms and tried to put the world to rights.

Next West Ham event in Ilford North will be on the 24 January. Our MP Lyn Brown (who has been not well lately) will be organising telephone canvass sessions from our headquarters at 306 High Street, E15. Details to follow.

I keep reminding everyone who wants to get rid of this rotten Tory led government that we simply have to win the marginals in May to stand any chance. So if you can help out at any nearby marginal in the next few months please do. 

British Foreign Policy in the Middle East - Newham Compass

Advance notice of the next Newham Compass event on Tuesday 17th February

"British Foreign Policy in the Middle East"

with Mike Gapes, MP for Ilford South.

I have a clash (my UNISON branch AGM) so will not be able to make it. Which is a shame not least since Mike is a former chair of the foreign affairs select committee.

I'll post more details when I get them.

Eric the Trekkie at the LGA Parliamentary Reception 2014

New(ish) Labour MP and former Lambeth Council leader, Steve Reed spoke first at last months Local Government Association event in the House of Commons Terrace Pavilion. 

Steve contrasted his experience as a Councillor with that as an MP. He felt the experience was very different especially since local people could attend Council meetings to let Councillors know their views but the House of Commons seems isolated in comparison.

Next was the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Eric Pickles. He described himself as a Star Track fan and told us that "all resistance to freezing Council tax rises was futile".

Apart from this joke Eric's speech was actually non partisan and even very "un-Eric". He praised local authorities for their response to the recent floods and said he thought Councillors were excellent local advocates and champions. He claimed that if he ever seems grumpy as Secretary of State we should remember that he loves us all a lot.

The head of the LGA, Conservative Cllr Sir Merrick Cockell spoke next and actually said how sad he was that due to property price increases his children are not able to live in the borough (Kensington and Chelsea) he has led as Council leader for the past 13 years. Which I found to be a pretty amazing thing to hear. If his kids cannot live there then who can? 

He also called for more homes to be built, to support small builders and for a 5 year long local government grants settlement by National Government rather than yearly. Which makes perfect sense to me.

Final speaker was Baroness Bakewell who had served beforehand for 20 years in Somerset Country Council and she reflected on the 8 times so far the Lords had defeated the Government and the many other times that they had made them rethink their policies.

Lab12: North & WSPA Fringes

Still catching up from Labour Party Conference. The North Fringe on Monday evening reminded me of a proper traditional Labour Party event. Before Ed came to speak there was an auction and raffle. I didn't win anything, not even the GMB branded Whiskey!

It was also the only event I went to during conference that served bottles of Brown Ale. 

Harriet Harman firstly thanked the region for its massive support for the Labour Party. When Ed came he told us that this was his 10th fringe of the night.
He also said how much he enjoyed the Durham Miners Gala and would return next year. 21 years was too long (since last Labour leader attended). He pledged to build new houses and get young people into work when the next Labour Government is elected.

Next was the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) Fringe. They had the World's only Parliamentary band MP4 playing. I must admit that I thought they were very good and didn't realise that they were amaters. Hope they are members of the MU!  There was a number of MP's boogying on down including John Healey, Mike Gapes and Caroline Flint. There were others who declined the spotlight.

Top picture is of my fellow Gog (north walian) John Prescott with UNISON Local organiser Joel Bodmer and UNISON SGE member Mike Davy. Afterwards we went to the Midland Hotel bar to yet again put the world to rights.

Valentines Ward By-election

I’ve been “out and about” for a little while tonight helping Ilford South Labour Party with their by-election in Valentines ward. This is a Labour/Tory marginal. I rang the campaign contact number and Mike Gapes MP picked up the phone and gave me directions to the Committee room.

I posted the other day here on the “Galloway” respect candidate who used the traditional SWP trick of lying about a fictional meeting between Mike and the “Gorgeous One” to wind up and mislead voters.

It seems that the Tories have also been up to pretty dirty tricks – their Candidate has been writing completely sectarian and personalised letters asking electors not to split the “Muslim vote” by only voting for him?

Strangely, although I did see other non-Labour Party canvassers in the ward tonight. They had no political badges, clipboards or colours. I remember in past Tower Hamlets elections, talking to similar opposition canvassers who did know the name of their candidate but when you asked what political party they were supporting their faces went completely blank? Hopefully, nothing like this is going on (Yeah)

In the Committee room and a key part of the local “machine” was Gary Chick-Mackay, who is the UNISON branch secretary for Havering Local Government. The Committee room seemed pretty calm and organised. No “dramas” and I was quickly sent out on both occasions with the same team and was well briefed on the local issues, location of polling stations and exactly what they wanted me to do. Which is all you want as a volunteer from another CLP.

We were “knocking up” “Labour Promises” – that is voters who had previously been canvassed and had indicated that they would support Labour. Our aim is purely to “remind” them and encourage them to vote.

One problem is that the Tory street lighting in Redbridge is simply rubbish. You could barely make out the door numbers of properties never mind read the canvass sheets.

However, considering how cold and dark it was the reaction from our “Promises” was very good. We’re wait and see for the result of course.

A friend of mine is fond of quoting his old mum’s saying that a “Promise is a comfort to a fool”.

I didn’t meet the candidate Surinder Pahl who was in other “knocking up” teams.

There is another by-election in Stoke Newington which I meant to go and help out with but I didn’t, so apologies to my Hackney comrades and I hope it went ok?

At the end I asked an activist if the results will be posted on the internet anywhere after the count. He wisely predicated that if we win then the results will be posted on the Ilford South web site sometime tonight. If we lose then it will of course never be mentioned ever again. So either way I’ll click on the web site tomorrow and should quickly be able to find out.

Update - I checked the Ilford South site this morning, nothing, so I feared the worse. This is from Luke's blog - Valentines Ward, LB Redbridge. LD gain from Lab. LD 963 (36.9%, +20.1), Con 781 (29.9%, +10.4), Lab 756 (28.3%, -0.9), Respect 112 (4.3%, +4.3). Swing of 4.9% from Con to LD since 2006. Strange numbers are result of an independent coming second in 2006 but not running this time. Apparently the LDs made Gaza a big issue in the campaign in a heavily Muslim area. See next post.

Good news that in Hackney it was a strong Labour hold.

Diss-Respectful Liars

I missed this until today. Check out Ilford South Labour MP, Mike Gapes web and his astonishment on finding out the lies that the George Galloway “Respect” Candidate in the local Council by-election in Valentines Ward had put out. This Candidate claims to be the Director of the government sponsored “Redbridge Against Islamophobia and Extremism (RAIE).”

A totally fictional public meeting supposedly organised by RAIE with Respect dork Galloway and Mike Gapes was invented with the headline “The Iraq War was good for Britain!” Posters were even placed in local schools and handed to people outside mosques in the area (paid for by whom?). Mike had not been invited and was totally unaware of this meeting.

The extremist Galloway Respect candidate has now resigned as "Director" (believe it or not) from the anti-extremists group RAIE – but apparently not as a "Respect" candidate?

The best way of countering these utterly vile people is of course to help out with the Labour campaign