Why Labour lost my ward...

[chrishansenhome]

For non-Brits, local elections in part of England were held on Thursday. Labour took a drubbing and Blair, to show that he wasn't worried, reshuffled his Cabinet so hard it screamed for mercy. In Southwark, the council has no party in overall majority: 28 seats each for Labour and the LibDems, 6 Tories (from Dulwich and that doesn't count much) and 1 Green. Labour lost all three seats in my ward (which is fine with me as I'm a LibDem). However, I got a hint of why that was this morning.

I got stuff from the LibDems in my mailbox (I'm on their mailing list natch), I got a leaflet from an independent candidate. But nothing from Labour. I thought they'd decided (from the frosty reception I gave them when they called me a few years ago) that I was a lost cause to them.

So the elections were Thursday; I emptied my mailbox on Friday. Saturday I opened the mailbox and what did I find? The leaflet from Labour urging me to vote Labour in Thursday's election!

Better late than never? I think not!

Comments

[keith-london.livejournal.com]

If Labour lost three in your ward, they must have gained 5 elsewhere within Southwark, because Labour actually made the most progress in Southwark (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/vote2006/locals/html/be.stm) overall, gaining 2 seats, up from 26. (Lib Dem stayed the same at 28 seats). I did get one leaflet from Labour weeks ago, but unfortunately, nothing more. Full marks to the Lib Dems for hard work, though, as I got a mailing the morning of the elections!

I was suprised to learn that Lib Dem controlled Kingston-Upon-Thames had the highest council tax in London!

[chrishansenhome.livejournal.com]

No, my ward was LibDem before and is LibDem now. The three Labour candidates lost in this ward. Sorry, I wasn't very specific. I'm just glad that one of the Labour candidates lost...he is a real wart and left the council 4 years ago, moved away, and then returned just in time for the election.

The 2 gains were all at the expense of independent seats, I believe. One independent seat went to the Green party.

[keith-london.livejournal.com]

I'm really pleased the Greens got something. I have a vague feeling that they deserve more, but I didn't think my vote for them would count. Why don't you become a councillor? I might well vote for you! :-)

[chrishansenhome.livejournal.com]

Are you in my ward (Chaucer)? I probably don't want the hassle. Local government, while very worthwhile, is the first sieve from which national candidates emerge. There is a lot of wheeling and dealing that goes on and a lot of opportunity for misbehaviour and graft. (See "Rotten Boroughs" in Private Eye for lots more detail). I may get more involved with the local LibDems (besides being a paid-up member of the party) to see what's what.

[chrishansenhome.livejournal.com]

I got an anonymous comment from some Labour supporter about the whole thing. In amongst the garbage I discovered that the LibDems won the ward by just 8 votes. I tried going to Southwark's website to confirm but the page had been taken down. Of course, I deleted the comment (screening is very useful) but the whole thing confirms my suspicions about local politics here. There are two women who come to the church dropin for lunch every Friday, and I normally sit with them. They are quite involved in the local community and on committees here and from their comments I realise that there is no good way to become involved in local government without getting smeared, either justly or unjustly, with tar or worse.

Nothing pleases me more than seeing the Labour party in full meltdown. It couldn't happen to a meaner bunch of authoritarian sods who are resolved to take our civil liberties away, one by one, until we have none left but are still not safe from terrorism.

I think I'll pass on getting more involved in the local LibDem party. I have enough stress in my life. And to that Labour supporter: it doesn't matter whether the LibDems won by 8 votes, 80 votes, or 1 vote. They still won. And to mount an effective campaign, you have to get your literature out before the election. Not a day after.