Camberwell votes 2: what can we hope for?
Written by mumu | Filed under General
(this is the second half of my previous post that I decided to split as it was too long)
So Lambeth and Southwark elections 2010 what can we hope for?
The full lists of candidates standing are available on the Southwark website and Lambeth website . A feature of the election this time is a new party — the Camberwell Party which has emerged to campaign on local issues and has posted on this site. This has, I think, been positive because even if it doesnt win any of the Camberwell seats it has raised the issues facing the area.
The 2010 elections are in London particularly unpredictable as for the first time since the modern structure of London was established in 1965 the local borough council elections are occurring on the same day as the General Election and so the turnout will be greater — in Lambeth and Southwark turnout for local elections is normally around the 30% mark whereas for the General Elections its usually around the 50–60% mark. Assuming people vote the same way nationally as locally it is likely that Labour will win more votes in Southwark and Lambeth as the constituencies are all fairly safe Labour seats.
The best result for Camberwell would be, I believe, a majority Labour administration in Southwark. I think realistically Camberwell is still going to elect Labour/ Green Councillors but if the Camberwell Party can reduce the majorities and make the politicians take more notice of Camberwell that will only be a good thing. Camberwell will also be in a strong position as the leader of the Labour Group is a South Camberwell Councillor. Lambeth I think is unlikely to change control — Labour could lose one or two seats to the Lib Dems but is still likely to be in charge on 7 May.
So in short my prediction for the borough council elections: Labour gain Southwark with workable majority of seats, Labour keep Lambeth.
As (I hope we all are) campaigners for a better Camberwell we need to be asking questions of the candidates and most of all planning now so that we can hit the ground running with an agenda for Camberwell once the election is over. I hope that organisations such as the Camberwell Party and SE5 Forum are able to get well argued campaigning material onto the desks of the new Councillors within the first few weeks of the new administration when the programme for the next few years is worked out. We need to show our elected Councillors and especially the new administrations on Southwark and Lambeth that Camberwell matters!
Hustings are on Thursday..
http://www.se5forum.org/forum/index.php?topic=1549.0
The only Camberwell-focused local elections hustings event will take place this Thursday, 29th April, 7-9pm at Jessie Duffett Hall, 92–94 Wyndham Road, London SE5 0UB.
Each of the parties standing in the local elections have been invited to take part in the discussion with Camberwell residents.
In no way is Labour dull, though. It is like an entrancing dark-haired woman wearing a red dress with a Martini Henry rifle slung over her shoulder, her face glowing in the candle light of a mountain auberge.
oh yes she what loves her bankers
Off topic…what was going on Camberwell New Road at the junction of Flodden road around 5:15 today?
Looked like the aftermath of a girl gang fight. Loads of plod and ambulances and tape across the north bound carriage way.
Dagmar. I get the feeling that you are being your jovial jesterly self when you say vote Labour.
No, I just don’t want Labour to come over as dull.
Dull policies are fine. Bad policies are the problem.
Personally, I consider Iraq, ID cards and Trident to be three hugely expensive mistakes that the Labour Party has made or is intent on making. And these are mistakes that will take decades to reverse, if reversing them is possible at all.
I am surprised Andy Stranack is standing as a Conservative candidate…To me his unique style makes him ideal for the Green Party…Maybe Jenny Jones can have a word in his ear for next time
He is possibly a little bit too radical for the Conservatives…
I have also had through my door these last few days flyers for…
Jill Mountford — Workers Liberty Party
http://www.workersliberty.org/awl-labour-and-left/elections/general-election-200910/camberwell-and-peckham-200910
Joshua Ogunleye — Workers Revolutionary Party
http://www.thestraightchoice.org/leaflets/3293/
The latter seems a very impressive young man — He’s only 20 years old!
Standing in Dulwich and W Norwood
http://www.votecure.com/vote/
Another website that is able to match voters to political parties on the basis of their policies. This one is quick and easy, but pretty accurate:
http://b3ta.com/board/10016663
@phil g: they never got included in the official southwark council’s list? i’ll go have another look
@Lili I don’t know, someone emailed it to me and I noticed the Dulwich / Norwood claim. They’ve got some very progressive policies.
All this noise about cuts again. As if we can keep on spending. Take a look at the disaster that is Greece. Portugal next. Labour has spent us into the ground, but the Greeks really did tank it.
Course, the Greeks on the streets wanting their expensive pensions that the Germans don’t want to pay for might remember that Ireland was in a very similar boat, but there they introduced some proper measures and the Emerald Isle is recovering… allegedly.
Does anyone know if any local pubs are having an election night party/event?
Vote GILLIAN DUFFY. Telling it how it is.
You’ll need to be watching rolling news to get this one.
@james: HAHAHAHA thanks for that, good one
@Gaycamberwell. I seem to remember Mark doing one before in the S&D
James J
Very Funny
I’ve always wanted to do the wrestling “Clothesline” move on Jeremy Clarkson smug fissog
…so I guess that makes me a Green then
Dear ALL. An election night party/event will be at S&D as per de riguer. Details to follow… And just look out for the World Cup!
@markdodds: please have something us endangered vegans can eat on the night thank you please?
xxx
Mark
At the election night party…
Can you arrange for somebody to create a papier-mache Jeremy Clarkson that everyone can beat up?
I think everybody would enjoy that, no matter who they vote for!
Oi, Eusebioboy, you old bigot! [Gets in cab — “That Eusbiobigot, by golly, he is the special one!”]
So, Gordon Brown is a man after all. If he were perfect I might not vote for him.
Jeremy Clarkson is a man too. He is a man of papier-mache or, as I prefer it to be called, papier-mâché. Anyone up for making a lifesize punchbag ‘in his likeness’ that ‘we’ can be politically uncorrect with on the night.
Vegan vegan vegan. YES. Will speak to chef about it Lili.
‘These Eastern Europeans– where are they coming from?’
Stupid bigot.
Interesting that it was a Sky microphone that was ‘left on’.
I just wish Gordito had stuck by what he said, rather than going round and apologising.
Going back to the house to grovel was especially cringeworthy. But Labour were lucky. It could easily have been so much worse. He didn’t even swear.
Course he owed her an apology. It was ridiculous behaviour and the overreaction of a control freak, especially since the original public chat was a relative success.
@St Giles. While it’s comforting to think of it all as a dark, spidery, Murdoch plot, you have to remember that he said this stuff within seconds of leaping into a car. The sound guys with the headsets on and the correspondents alongside them would’ve heard it no matter what. Even if the newsdesk had stopped the story the sound guys would’ve chatted, especially when surrounded by a huge press pack. It’s almost impossible to contain something like that.
I’m sure Sky were thrilled though and had probably already planned to listen hard for ‘car chat’. And it is interesting to consider whether the BBC would’ve vetoed the whole story as it was ‘in private’. But they almost certainly wouldn’t. And as soon as Sky ran with the story the BBC were blanketing it just as much. Don’t forget that the head-in-hands shot which gave the story extra legs was from a BBC studio.
Let’s not also forget the minor point that Sky and The Sun etc backed Labour for the last three elections.
Personally I think it’s a real shame that this event has such a strong chapter in the story of this election so far. Alas this is the world we live in.
VOTE GILLIAN!
She’s signed up a PR firm now, I see…
final reminder before i rush off to do some manic taping of things & chair arranging & panicking etc
(6.30 for) 7-9pm tonight, jessie duffett hall, 92–94 wyndham road se5 0ub, the one chance to talk about camberwell with the local election candidates camberwellians get!
come if you can
x
Again nothing to do with politics but ate a takeaway from Cinnamon last night on Camberwell Church Street.
Very very tasty. A damn fine curry and they deliver too. It’s got the traditional stuff but lots I haven’t seen or tried before.
Hope they don’t put Ambrosia out of business though. They are much more delicate curries.
Lazy neighbour
votes Labour
never done a day’s o’.
Can anyone recommend a good, reliable and affordable decorator to do some painting?
and the normality has been resumed
Gay Camberwell
I got an email from this company the other day…Don’t know how they got hold of my address, but there you are…It may be of interest to you — I haven’t used them, so can’t vouch for them!
http://www.home-jane.co.uk/index.html
@Monkeycat — good, was waiting for someone here to comment on Cinnamon. Might give it a try this weekend, sounds nice.
On another very middle class nothing to do with politics point… can anyone recommend a cleaner? Someone local hopefully.
Look forward to trying Cinnammon.
Gay Camberwell, a dictator who can do some painting is Adolf Hitler, but he is dead. Most of our current politicians also talk like he did in a sort of painting-by-numbers way, stringing “hard choices” and “surges” together, going forward. Soon many of them will be available to you.
Normality? In almost four years I can’t remember seeing anyone ask for a cleaner recommendation on this board. It’s very East Dulwich. Decorators? Hello?
Still, at least SE5 might be gentrifying. 4 years back we were swapping tips on ‘hot wings’. Note that Morleys now only do 4 wings for a quid. Used to be 5. That’s some real inflation Prudent Gordon!
What kind of chicken has 4 wings? You may have bought a quartered squid, Phil. Like Monkeycat who bought a takeaway curry from Cameron — this was probably a pig in a poke.
That’s what Gordon successfully said last night on the telly — when you bet Cameron you get a pig in a poke. Gordon was on form.
They all looked like Thunderbirds puppets, though.
four-winged chicken are the best!
Ah so. The Chinook chicken has arrived.
Get Bradley Round
http://allroundrenovation.com/home.html
We had a local election leaflet from the Green Party. They want to put in a Zebra Crossing on Lyndhurst Grove so the kids can cross to Warwick Gardens.
Politics you can use.
I’d like a zebra crossing to cross Denmark Hill just opposite Love Walk to the alley that connects on to Coldharbour Lane. I know there’s a crossing by Kings but it’s a bit far and so everyone just runs the gauntlet of 4 lanes of traffic to get over and get the buses up towards Dulwich etc.
That area needs some kind of crossing, because cars tend to go pretty fast outside that school.
Is Bradley Round that chap Barry Scott from the Cillit Bang ads?
A crossing opposite Love Walk is a very good idea, ditto the zebra for the Warwick Gardens kids. Today’s Guardian editorial is also brilliant, excellent, scintillatingly intelligent.
Tomorrow is May 1st, May Day, the people’s day, has been since the dawn of time. The Conservatives may soon rule with their ridiculous — that word! — lack of being in touch, but nothing will rain on the people’s parade tomorrow.
Let us erect our maypoles between the strong breasts of the socialist woman in her red dress also wearing an old Martini Henry rifle!
Avanti popolo!
Gramsci!
Lala!
Po!
Interesting to see the Guardian today.
Does anyone know how many people it would take to replace harriet with the lib dem candidate, whoever they are?
How big is the swing needed? How many people do we need to switch from labour to lib dem, and could it be done?
am just wondering whether its worth voting next week or not, that’s all.
Don’t mind voting lib dem if enough others are also willing to do it, to replace harriet.
the lib dem candidate is columba blango.
jenny jones is also standing for camberwell & peckham
as are jill mountford (alliance for workers’ liberty); andy stranack (conservatives); yohara robby (english democrats putting england first); three independent candidates, decima francis, patricia knox and steven robbins; margaret sharkey (socialist labour party) and joshua ogunleye (workers’ revolutionary party).
a really nice story about why every one action counts: http://www.starrbrite.com/starfish.html
x
sg it will take a LOT of votes to get Lib Dems taking over from Labour. Given that none of us is clarivoyant, throw caution to the wind, don’t NOT vote and vote Lib Dem anyway.
Walks and crossings: More road crossings ARE needed. The suggestions above are for crossings in foot paths that are broken by roads. It is natural these routes should be made contiguous but we need a LOT more than safe road crossings in Camberwell.
Holistic planning to make sense of the area, which includes transport, is needed. This area’s never had it.
PIZZA.
Topo Gigio, an Italian trattoria, opened quietly two weeks ago at 97 Camberwell Station Road where before there was an oddly placed cafe.
It remains an oddly placed trattoria because of where it is but is run by very nice people, Stefano, the owner-chef and Natalia the waitress, who serve good fresh proper Italian food. Pizzas can be takeaway as well as sit in. Everything is good value, well made, pretty delicious and worth a try.
I had Capricciosa and Topo Gigio pizzas take away last night. Fed the family for £13.50 everyone from 8 to 51 loved it.
Open Mon-Sat 12.00 — 22.00. They take phone orders on 7738 7750
I was not impressed by Colomba Blango. Not in correspondence with him or what he has said or when I met him.
Andy Stranack on the other hand is in a class of his own. By far he would be the best thing that ever happened to Camberwell and Peckham. It is such a shame that he is standing against Harriet. Anywhere else would be proud to have him represent their constituency.
The problem is that even though I have no respect for Blango I may end up voting for him if only to give the Lib Dems the best chance of securing a large vote which gives them more bargaining power, which in turn will allow us to hopefully get rid of this ridiculous system of first past the post that serves only the status quo.
Damn!
On the plus side, you can vote for the Camberwell Party if you live in Camberwell Green Ward (http://www.CamberwellParty.com). I say you can. You don’t have to. What we really would like is for people to actually read up and learn about who they vote for. Look at the policies of each person. Then decide.
By the way, this from Harriet in the Southwark News.
She is asked what she did locally. Which apparently means in her head “How can I have another dig at the Tories and ignore my constituency?”
“What are your main achievements in the last term locally, putting aside any national campaigns?
I think what I did since I got elected is fight to get Labour into government, because when we weren’t in government the Tories did not care at all about anybody in Camberwell and Peckham. It was not on the map as far as they were concerned and that caused people to suffer.
I campaigned for us to get into government, and since I have been in government I have spoken up for people in Camberwell and Peckham.”
Please, DON’T vote for that.
All the candidates including local and national ones are mentioned here:
http://www.southwarkweekender.co.uk/news/00,news,19295,440,00.htm
I met Columba Blango twice, not recently, conversationally. He is big and impressive. He really enjoys the size of his own mouth; sorry; the SOUND of his own voice. He doesn’t seem to be able to listen and is more engaged about how he’s going to bowl you over with his next statement than intent on finding out what your thinking is. I’d never vote for that kind of self love.
I’d be voting Camberwell Party locally if I lived in Camberwell Green but as I’m in Brixton SE5 I’m voting Labour both nationally and locally. I do not want the Tory in power.
By the way I firmly believe Harriet has not represented Camberwell well because she has never been harried enough by local people telling her what’s missing and desperately needed on a wider scale than what happens with social housing.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/apr/18/clegg-media-elite-murdoch-lib-dem
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=112612648770931#!/group.php?gid=112612648770931&v=wall
More food for thought.
Mark
Jenny Jones knows all about a holistic approach to road planning and continuously advocates this for Camberwell…
Agreed that we need to continuously make Harriet Harman aware of the wider issues in Camberwell & Peckham…She will definetely retain her seat — no problem
But perhaps with a reduced majority we can engage her to perhaps improve things here during her forthcoming term…and work a little harder for her votes!
Years ago I lived in a Tory safe seat, as safe as ours is Labour. I thought it was almost pointless voting against them but that year there was a huge and unexpected swing to the Lib Dems, though they didn’t take the seat and haven’t done so since.
I’m not impressed by what I’ve seen from Blango but will probs end up voting for him as he’s the best chance of a swing against Harman. While he’s unlikely to take the seat a big swing will at least keep Labour on its toes a bit more round here.
HAPPY MAYDAY, PEOPLE OF THE BELTANE! It has not rained. The sun shines auspiciously on Millwall, Labour and the contiguous old straight track pounded by the people for centuries.
More on the Murdoch trying to skew the election here. I think he doesn’t like hung parliaments…
http://bit.ly/dbtxC
@Monkeycat, Not sure that’s the right link, unless you’re suggesting we all self-immolate in protest.
I wish Murdoch would set himself on fire…
I have the matches and the parafin ready…
http://www.38degrees.org.uk/page/s/hungparliamenttr
sorry, here’s the real link.
let’em eat cake, in pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=20080627167&v=photos
That’s great, Monkeycat. We are big fans of John Wesley. He really must have been the Morrissey of his day in Britain, touring endlessly to remote provincial gigs.
I once took our youngest to Gwennap Pit when she was very small to show her where he preached — it was a lovely experience, playing on the grass terraces in the sun.
The rain shone on May Day today at last, so that next week the flowers and trees will be burgeoning for the people’s month, traditionally the courting time.
Poor hapless Gordon Brown. He is not made for this century, or the last, or for any. Still, there are thousands of Millibands waiting in the wings, to outbland the current style of political leader.
Jon Cruddas is a good bet, though. We will all need a strong Labour Party with a clear, uncomplicated view.
But of course, what we really need — and want — is a woman as chief.
Ssh!
Oh yes.
TOPO GIGIO
Trattoria Pizzeria: http://bit.ly/b3giqN
97 Camberwell Station Road
open Mon-Sat noon — 10pm
phone orders welcome 020 7738 7750
This Murdoch stuff is completely overdone and facile. ALL newspapers are biased. And plenty have warned about a hung parliament.
On the subject of bias, have you read The Mirror lately? Or the Telegraph? You seen The Guardian? That was the lovely, freethinking Guardian that devoted a whole G2 to telling you not to vote Boris, and what a disaster it’d be if he got in.
Sure, The Sun is backing Cameron now. Since everyone knows that — don’t read it and expect otherwise. In choosing who he backs Murdoch has to pick someone who at least is going to gather some sort of democratic mandate, it has to be a potential winner. The man’s not some sort of wizard. He can’t say — vote BNP, or vote Green — and we all will, like we’re his slaves or something.
Handsome pizzas. I will try it soon. Bout time we had some good pizzas in SE5.
I met Blango in the street the other day. Not especially impressive TBH. Maybe I’ll vote Green.
When it comes to politics the quality of the Press’s reporting is utterly shameful. I think the press is as much to blame for the shambles of our political system as anything else and Murdoch is in the main the principle influencer of the whole slide into lowest common denominator ‘reporting’ in Britain.
The slant of the report in the Express about the way Mandelson gloated and preened in his presentation at The Sun and Doves was a downright lie. Even if I had no sympathy with Labour, if I’d seen such a presentation by a senior Tory and read such a skewed report for example, I’d regard the contrast between what was said and how it was said against what was reported as deliberately misleading and irresponsible, bordering illegal in its depth of mis-representation.
Journalists writing propaganda rather than reporting should be blacklisted from all ‘news’ press and be made unpublishable.
Fat chance.
I hear Gordon is in Camberwell at the moment?? Anyone see where he was?
At a church in Streatham followed by knocking on doors in Herne Hill according to the BBC. No mention of Camberwell specifically.
there apprently was an event at the inspire, walworth road, and yes, gordon brown was there. and harriet harman & lots of other people. john friary posted up some photos on his facebook page
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKFTtYx2OHc
Not exactly unbiased but very funny!
Camberwell gets a slice of democracy:
http://www.power2010.org.uk/blog/entry/camberwell-gets-a-slice-of-democracy/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKFTtYx2OHc
Yeah, but this was good.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKFTtYx2OHc
Also this.
Well found, m’ cat!
What a dull, dank, deadly day today, though. We went to the park and were the only people there this evening. At one point we thought we had lost a member of the tribe in the bitter cold north wind, but we found her stuck in a tree branch like a plastic bag.
It is like a foreboding of a government where our tax credits are rearranged and we are forced to join the illegals at less than the minimum age and die in a cupboard like that man at the Elephant, no joking.
Gillian Duffy would make a great leader, though. Maybe all is not lost.
http://bit.ly/aBi1GX
Belgian Hell’s Angels http://bit.ly/cOCfcU were in Camberwell with French Graffiti artists http://bit.ly/cHm8Tp on the opposite corner yesterday. For a brief moment SE5 was cosmpolitan in a different way.
My comment about Belgian Hell’s Angels and French Graffiti artists cheek by jowl at the GX crossroads on Denmark Road was kept secret for moderation.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/markdodds/sets/72157623979137690/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/markdodds/sets/72157623979163874/
I’m not one to complain but, really. Bloody rain.
that is just so beautiful!!!
It looks like the Belgian Hell’s Angels were stopping for lunch at Nando’s? Not exactly hellraisers…
I noticed a couple of them had slipped away from the main group and gone to Love Walk cafe.
A “Belgian Angel” is an extremely dirty slang expression where I come from!
Our copy of the current “New Scientist” has an interesting calculation of the election result from two psychologists at Glasgow University and a chap at the University of Hertfordshire.
Conservatives 290
Labour 247
Lib Dems 70
The 15 May issue of “New Scientist” will explain their method.
If people think that Brown will go, maybe they will be more inclined to vote Labour. A Milliband is a more credible version of Clegg or Cummerbund. There must be thousands of Millibands waiting in the wings. I say to you again, this joke is worth repeating.
Here’s a speech in support of Labour: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BA2Jz7xIXw&feature=player_embedded
We’re doing election night on large screen. Free opinions as always.
A very good speech by Gordon. It reminds me that I have a theory:
During elections it should be illegal to publish or broadcast any pictures of any candidates.
TV news would not be allowed to show anything in elections it would have to be a blank screen. All the debates would be on radio only. Newspapers would not be allowed to discuss personalities.
We listened to the final debate, and just listening, Brown and Clegg did very well. Cameron was soundbite man. Fur coat and no knickers. All the coverage, however, was about their presentation and style. Bad news for us muggins.
Harriet has excelled herself again by the way:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/apr/29/labour-black-vote-general-election
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/edwest/100037394/1980s-throwback-harriet-harman-calls-black-audience-brothers-and-sisters-audience-falls-about-in-laughter/
Quote “It’s a sad look out for the people of Camberwell when the authoress of the Equality Act is the voice of reason and sanity”.
@monkeycat: yes im with you on voting for policies rather than personalities. there’s more to life than pr.
locally, pr has been amusing, if you’re a bit geeky i guess — some of the flyers we got through have no contact details for the candidates; only one has any references to the candidates’ achievements (although a number of candidates are existing councillors), etc.
Good links MCat.
Brothers and sisters, listen! We have a new curry house in the form of Cinnamon. It must be supported and nurtured. OK so it’s never going to be Michelin starred. But it’s quite capable. I went for the Bengali specials on the duck and the ‘tangy’ lamb and both were fine. Nice service and it’s bring your own too, so it’s cheap.
But alas it was verrrry quiet in there. Howso when below average Safa does well? Remember that we have already lost a respectable curry house — Spice of Life. Let us not lose another.
Policies not personalities — kind of soundbitey itself.
Is Peckham Road always this ridiculously jammed at this time of day? I had it in mind to catch a bus up to Oval, and then hop on the Northern line. Wrong option.
Any vegetarian options at Cinnamon?
“Good evening brothers and sisters…erm”
Listen to Camberwell’s number one sister 50 seconds in to this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUQnq8sohIM
Also check out brothers Vince and George.
Now then, there didn’t seem to be such a huge laugh at Harriet there. That’s just like the Irish said Rowan Williams dissed the Irish Catholic church — when you heard what he said, he hadn’t at all. But Williams apologised. These days, if you just have a pee — or a poo — you have to apologise. Soon, all pooers and peers will have to apologise in advance.
OK, Harriet is no Kate Hoey or Tessa Jowell, but then neither is Nick Raynsford Diane Abbott. Come ON!
COME ON, LABOUR! COME ON, LABOUR!
come on eileen?
RE Monkeycat’s links, one of them to the Telegraph blog where “Ed West is a journalist and social commentator who specialises in politics, religion and low culture” presents an anti labour bias with authority.
Ed’s clearly a specialist in ‘low culture’ — he’s certainly right down there among it, no doubt university educated and brought up deep in it. Oh, and by the way, he’s Features Editor of the Catholic Herald Online. I wonder how comfortable Whitey Boy West would feel in a room full of inquisitive black people. Social commentator my arse.
Here’s his Torygraph headline: “1980s throwback Harriet Harman calls black audience ‘brothers and sisters’. Audience falls about in laughter” He’s a twat.
Finally. Who among contributors here would feel completely comfortable addressing a black audience about your political credentials while hoping to get them to vote for you to represent them (if you’re white of course)?
People who would have voted Labour, will still vote Labour; and people who wouldn’t, wouldn’t; and people who were undecided, won’t let this affect their good judgement; and the media will be the media. And none of it is personal; it is business, as usual.
http://voteforpolicies.org.uk/
So of a quarter of a million people taking part in vote for policies puts the Greens in the lead. Excellent. Lib Dems second and Labour third. That puts 61% of the population in the ‘we care about other people’ slot and the rest in the ‘I’m alright and I want a lot more of it large Jack’ section. I’d vote for that. If only our electoral system could work to provide a government of the people for the people with such a majority in the ‘we will re educate Jack’ driving seat.
We could get rid of private education altogether and faith schools too. And see the back end of nuclear power. And heavy investment in new industries that will generate the wealth of the next 1000 years and save us from certain nastiness down the line.
Lovely. Mine’s a Green gin and tonic thanks. Make it LARGE.
I’ll be very intrigued to find out the result of this one. I’ve been blogging about it (and the candidates’ Gay Camberwell questionnaire responses) today http://www.gaycamberwell.com/gc-blog.html . Am looking forward to my traditional election day pastime of directing Camberwellians who don’t know Camberwell very well to the Salvation Army polling station. And also looking forward to Mark’s election night party. Not sure I’m absolutely looking forward to the result…
Doubt those two blogs would hit much of a mark. Outside of the political blogger echo chamber, no one’s listening to stuff like that. Too insidery.
Personality and tribal allegiance has everything to with who to vote for, surely. You can only trust a policy as far as you can trust the people behind it. Policies are mere talking points.
Gary Younge in the Guardian has a good article on poltical tribes. (Thou hate is not a word I like).
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/may/04/why-i-hate-tories-david-cameron
Saw a bit of Luther on the BBC last night. Quite a bit of it filmed in Camberwell Grove, I think. Makes the area look well expensive.
Yeah, I watched Luther too. I saw them film a few scenes. As a drama it was OK but not great. Likely to continue watching it. On screen Camb Grove looks even more expensive than it is.
Cinnamon has a few veggie options yes. We had the vege kofte. Which were like huge veggie burgers in sauce. Not bad.
Re: Ed West, Features Editor of the Catholic Herald Online.
Interesting article in the Observer on Sunday about the Christian Right funding the Tories:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/may/02/secret-christian-donors-bankroll-tories
Oh .. and one of the new Tory rising starts is also a gay-exorciser:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/may/02/conservatives-philippa-stroud-gay-cure
I wonder if she will support the Church at the Bingo Hall.
iraq war.
chilcot inquiry.
id cards.
digital economy bill.
bankers’ bailout
I like four out of the five.
I personally am having sleepless nights about the tories getting in.
This hasn’t helped.
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/johann-hari-welcome-to-cameron-land-1962318.html
@Florian. I am assuming you are being sarcastic there!
Re: i.d. cards. No problem with them. Lived in Spain and they are very handy when coming to things like getting a dvd club membership, opening bank accounts without having to provide seven letters from utilities, your grandparents false teeth and something with a photo on it.
I do have a problem with it being biometric and having data stored on it. Which will get hacked into by someone at some time.
It will become by default mandatory for everything rather than doing what it should do which is to identify you.
THAT is scary.
That’s the one I don’t like
I’ve just been checking the betting odds, and I’d say to all of you thinking about voting tactically to eject Hattie: don’t worry about it. She’s anything from 1/20 to 1/500 on to keep the seat, and let’s face it, the bookies don’t tend to get things that wrong. So if you fancy showing your support for, say, the Greens, go for it.
For those of us in Tessa Jowell country, however, the picture is less clear – she’s only about 1/3 on the retain the seat. Worth a tactical Lib Dem punt, surely.
Church of Bingo
Columba Blango
Harriet Harmless
Clegg the Charmless
Cameron Chameleon
Gormless Gordon
i misread that as church of blingo. oh dear.
I like your analysis of the likely outcomes in Southwark and Lambeth and hope you are right! Having both Elections on the same day should help Labour but the effect of the Lib Dem “bounce” from the TV Debates is diffcult to quantify although it looks like the Lib dem vote is slipping as votes firm up for the Tories and Labour.
Not surprisingly I agree with you that the best result for camberwell in Souhtwark and Lambeth is both Boroughs with a Labour Majority. Only way to make that happen is to get up tomorrow and go and VOTE LABOUR!!!!!
@PeteW: but share of national vote may be relevant if there’s a hung Parliament, regardless of how many MPs each party has (depending on how you interpret Clegg’s rather cryptic reference to a “mandate”). So for those people who care about electoral reform and for whom PR would avoid the situation of their consitituency consistently voting in the same party candidate there may be value in voting Libdem in Camberwell and Peckham. Just saying, like!
off topic, but anyone know what’s happening to the old Woolworth’s / Pound Shop on Denmark Hill?
It’s being turned into an Eton Outreach Centre.
Woolworth’s/99p/Denmark Hill = NO IDEA.
Trying to envisage what an Eton Outreach Centre would be. I’m getting just about a complete blank but whatever it is that lies behind the veil of my imagination it’s irritating me to hell.
Which reminds of the feelings I get when reading about evangelical Tory Christians like Pippa Stroud. Difficult to express how I feel about them really.
Rigid, narrow minded, blinkered, hypocritical, supremacist, self centred, arrogant utter TWATS.
Oh yes. Excuse me for coming back to this but I forgot to mention that those Evangelical Tory Christians, and non Tory Evengelical Christians all appear in some profound way to be possessed by the very same type of demons they keep imagining other people have in them, as do rabid People of Faith of all colours slants and angles.
I urge all ordinary, normal, decent people and secular folk to lock them up and throw away the keys. While we are still in the majority that is.
Stand up for common sense. Go to the Eton Finishing Shop.
John Friary, Labour councillor for Camberwell Green War, is a big Hibs fan, well, a huge Hibs fan. Hibs drew against Motherwell last night in a 6–6 thriller. This may be a sign.
Thirteen years of some nutjob — first as chancellor, then as PM. Thirteen years of it. Failures galore. Wars. Civil liberties thrashed.
And this ward will back five more years of the same.
Hell is the impossibility of reason. Camberhell.
Reminds me of the graffiti in the Hull University student union bog in the late 80s:
“Hull is Hell spelt wrong”
Good piece of reporting on Camberwell & Peckham election in this vid:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/video/2010/may/05/camberwell-peckham-workers-revolutionary-party?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
Jenny Jones got ready for the End by learning how to weave cloth!
She and I will be walking Cormac McCarthy’s The Road together. I like her. I may vote for her.
We’re gonna need cloth, no question.
The Sun have gone religious with their front-page computerised icon of Cameron.
Will the last person to vote in Camberwell, Peckham, Southwark and Britain please turn out the lights.
The Rubicon.
In the red corner:
Party of property flipping, neo con war criminals and financial terrorists, passing on £1.4T of support from the nation’s taxpayers to the banks. Too thick, or corrupt, to realise they’ve betrayed every principal they ever stood for. Funded by banking lobby.
In the blue corner:
Land-owning Bullingdon boys who are lying to get into power. Funded by banking lobby.
In the yellow corner:
At least the slightest chance that there will be lasting change in the Westminster country club, as we fall into severe austerity for 20 years because nobody stood up to the alpha banks.
Good luck with your choice.
meanhile, a new game in twi’erland:
who would you have in your fantasy cabinet? (include role too if possible); keep it to people who are alive today (which annoyingly excludes bill hicks)
over to you…
Joan Ruddock. Minister for energy policy.
A From Hell, the sequel story: (in which we really can’t be having any of that democratic nonsense in Camberwell)
Just got back from the nearest polling station, controversially situated in the very same venue as the controversial Camberwell hustings which the council officers didn’t want to happen. (see here for background information: http://www.peoplesrepublicofsouthwark.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=348:camberwell-hustings&catid=4:news&Itemid=3)
so, as we got to the bit of the road in front of a towerblock, couple of meters away from the bottom of the platform leading to a vast expanse of space in front of the above mentioned polling station, we bumped into one of the candidates who seemed slightly perplexed with the restrictions the polling officers have put on him (as to just how close a candidate can be to the polling station & what they can do), as those very same rules were not being applied to candidates from a different party.
we made it into the polling station, asked for clarification, only to be told that all of the area outside of the polling station counts as polling station. the polling officer could not say how many square metres/feet/inches this area actually is, as a wave of the arm was all we got. and we looked in the direction of the arm only to see two candidates from a different party engaged in a conversation with the residents/voters/potential voters. talking, apparently, is ok, even within this unspecified area which is a polling station outside of a polling station. the polling officer confirmed that they saw the other (troublesome) candidate give out flyers to people which was not acceptable. they could not confirm what the two other candidates did or didn’t do, as nobody was actually there to watch what’s happening.
it would also appear that while some tras have to ‘remain non-party political at all times’, some don’t, which, as far as i can work out, is at the council officers’ or someone else’s discretion?
how was it for you?
Mellow. Almost to the point of quaint. Bushy Hill Polling Station. Good vibe.
Up in East Dulwich in the pub now. Rich 30 somethings everywhere.
We are re-reading Samuel Smiles’ “Self-Help” and building an Anderson Shelter in the front room. The Dagmarettes are sleeping soundly. The last person here is about to switch off the lights.
We await fox hunting in Lucas Gardens. The squirrels have already packed their bags. The pigeons have flown. The dogs bark.
But the caravan moves on.
dagmar, would your caravan cope with an extension (and ensuite catsuite?) x
Harriet wins in C&P (3% swing to LDs); Tessa Jowell holds Dulwich etc with a slight swing in her favour.
Anyone know when the council results are in?
@Florian
Southwark will start counting the votes for the Council elections at 1pm today. Could be a while before the results are in as turn out will have been higher than usual.
St Matthew’s church polling station on Lilford Road was busy all evening. Well ordered queue. No idea what happened, if people were turned away, come 10pm closing time.
I keep hearing idiot politicians and journalists on the radio asking: “what has the nation really told us?” What a lot of silliness. Why can not these people talk sense?
What has happened to the nation electorally is lamentably predictably stupid. It shows that our political system does not serve anyone well.
Tories are saying the nation has clearly told us that they want change and they will do whatever the nation needs to make sure government is strong and decisive.
Labour are saying the nation has clearly told us they want electoral reform and strong and stable government.
Lib Dems have unfairly lost seats because of our stupid electoral system forces people to vote for parties they don’t want to vote for.
Greens, almost miraculously, got their leader a seat in government. 1 Green out of 640 MPs is the most positive outcome of the whole broken charabanc.
We are fifty years behind where we need to be.
Another positive outcome: the Alliance Party got a seat in Northern Ireland. The first time that Northern Ireland has an MP from a party that isn’t associated with a particular religious group.
Yes, God is an atheist. Blimey, Labour did well.
Interesting results all round — best thing is the increased turnout
Lambeth Council will start counting at 3 this afternoon with results announced 6-7pm
in peckham, counting is half way through. overall borough turnout 58%. individual wards figures:
Brnswick Pk: 58%, Camb Gr: 54%, Cathedrals: 52%, Chaucer:55%, College: 68%, E Dulwich: 71%, E Walworth: 56%,Faraday:52%, Grange: 53%, Livesy 55%, Newington 57%, Nunhead: 56%, Peckham 53%, Peck Rye 67%, Riverside 54%, Rotherhithe 53%, S Bermondsey 51%,S Camb 63%, Surrey… Docks 55%, The Lane 59%, Village 54%
Lambeth results coming through on Lambeth Labour Twitter from 4 — http://twitter.com/lambethlabour
and Southwark’s on the council’s twitter feed http://twitter.com/lb_southwark
What are we hoping for title of this blog. I wasn’t hoping for a Tory Lib Dem pact has Clegg joined a bunch of nutters?
Tories and Lib Dems have got quite a few things in common. Greater respect for civil liberties than Labour, market liberalism, and an understanding that the public sector workforce and their pensions need to be overhauled. I’m sure there’re more but frankly I can’t be bothered to list them. It’s all Greek to me.
according to South London Press twitter http://twitter.com/SthLondonPress a Lib Dem and Green have lost their seats on Southwark which will mean a Labour majority on the council
results so far:
brunswick park: 3 labour seats
camberwell green: 3 labour seats
east walworth: 3 labour seats
faraday: 3 labour seats
livesey: 3 labour seats
cathedrals: 3 lib dem seats
It’s all rather poor. I like it when there are coalitions. Keeps people on their toes.
welcome to southwark, the borough where the time stood still.
and where the rest of the world just never existed.
not wars
not climate change
not bankers
not charles de menezes
not duck moats
@monkeycat: coallitions mean often different opinions from your own. which means looking at your own opinions differently/thinking how to explain/convince those with different opinions.
it means not being afraid of that which is different
it means growth/development
ive had enough of politics for one day!
xxx
Good news! Looks like we’re getting a Labour Council for Southwark (as the Southwark News Twitter feed http://twitter.com/Southwark_News reports) — this will be good for Camberwell. We now need to get in there to lobby the newly elected members on behalf of Camberwell — get the Camberwell councillors on side to lobby the Council Executive on behalf of the area.
You have a point Mamu. It would mean that the local councillors can no longer say that lack of regeneration in the area is due to The Lib Dem / Conservative alliance.
However, On the whole I am sorry that Jenny Jones looks likely to lose her seat and that so many people voted without really realising that the local elections were even taking place.
On the plus side the Camberwell Party got 987 votes between the three candidates! We were hoping that we would get 750ish.
Considering that for most of April I was away and that we were on very limited budgets and resources it was a great result.
Yes we must keep up the campaign to show that Camberwell matters — I think the Camberwell Party has done very good work, we need to keep up the momentum to show that Camberwell matters
Damn Jenny has lost her seat.
Colomba Blango won…that’s CB Jr. in Rotherhithe not CB senior as our new MP.
Still no winner in the council though. 25 to the Lib Dem / Con alliance, 25 to Labour so far.
South London Press on Twitter are saying that Labour have won Southwark — Labour 34 seats, Lib Dem 23, Con 3 with the Chaucer results yet to come in due to a recount
Liliana, come back, we love you!
Oh, well.
It seems it is time for proportional representation nationally, which would mean a more central gentler thing rather than that old tribal battle of red and blue, the honourable blue member for Barking versus the dyed in the wool diehard for Dagenham.
But as far as Camberwell is concerned, there are Ladies in Red as far as the eye can see: Harriet, Tessa, Kate, Joan…
Well done, girls!
Camberwell is Labour, which makes complete sense. Southwark is Labour, which makes complete sense. We are a combination of people — and intelligence.
Liliana — I can hear you snoring from here! x
As expected Labour keep control of Lambeth which is good since no party has had two terms of control of Lambeth since the 1990s
Gillian Duffy deserves a kiss or vote, too. X
Time to rise up and be counted. We gotta kick some ass around here.
SE5 Forum membership is FREE and refreshments are provided.
Been quiet for some time, but back now to comment on the election results. The General Election results were to my liking — Labour got a mild kicking, but there was no landslide and some individuals from all parties deservedly lost. Joanne Cash in Westminster Nth thought she was on a sure thing for the Tories — WRONG! Tony McNulty & Ann Keen for Labour — better lock the petty cash box when they arrive to pack! And the cherry on the cake, for me, Peter Robinson & Sir Reg Empey in N Ireland. Arrogance is not a good look.
Locally, Labour have gained control of Southwark Council from the Lib Dem/Tory coalition and Labour even gained 2 seats from the Tories in College Ward. Hope Annie Shepherd has her overnight back packed and good riddance. The final result in Chaucer Ward is subject to a recount, which means it must be very tight, but whatever the result, we now have a Labour Council. I hope now that the previous administration will be held to account for the amount of (Council Tax & Council rent) money that they are spending on reputational damage limitation in legal fees over the Lakanal fire. Oh yes, and selling off Council buildings on Peckham & Walworth Roads.
@dagmar: ladies wot snore? what nonsense!
Good morning, Liliana! What a nice day. It doesn’t matter the the skies are grey with indecision, as though we’re in a Greek play where there is moral and morale paralysis before tragedy clears the air. The day belongs to us. The breeze of change will bring the light rain of, er, er, rain.
Highlight for me was the facists getting wiped out in the East End. BNP no longer has councillors in Barking, with Griffin and his dick headed cohorts manshamed. And Respect wiped out too with that slime Galloway slithering off ignominiously (he didn’t turn up the announcement of his result). Rushnara Ali is a credit to the area she now represents.
I sense the country has delivered a political result that reflects how it’s feeling at the moment. Labour lost, but has a strong basis in the House and will be resurgent again under the right leader before long. The tories aren’t well loved though, and have nothing like the support Thatcher had (a good 5% behind her figures). So they’ll rule for a couple of years, eased leftwards by their reluctant Lib Dem partners. That feels about right to me.
@dagmar: yes, nothing beats weather although i could, of course, make a number of complaints about it
The national elections were less important to shaping the future of Camberwell — think about the SE5 legacies left to the area by previous Council administrations vs central Governments. Yet media and blogosphere completely failed to debate local issues, candidates or policies, and many Camberwellers voted for councillor candidates to ‘keep the NHS and stop cuts in welfare’.
@mumu — every single candidate from all political parties standing in the three Camberwell wards would claim to agree that ‘Camberwell matters’. They do have vastly different priorities (e.g. housing) for Camberwell, which is why is it important to have detailed expectations if you want to judge improvement. For example, do you want more/less of:
- employment based in SE5
– ALMOs
– high residential density
– affordable housing
– green space
– local schooling
– local shops
– resident parking
– business parking
– free reign for developers
– piecemeal development
– co-ordinated strategy for walkable mixed use communities
– continuing focus on concentrating amenities in Peckham rather than Camberwell, as the LibDems did?
Mushtimushta suggested that a Labour Executive will sell off less Council housing — will this also apply to retail and community buildings owned by the Council in Camberwell? Carrying through this principle, will they use the Council’s compulsory purchase powers to restore the level of Council buildings ownership prior to 2002? Will they use £4 million of the Council’s £1 billion annual turnover to take Gala Bingo into public ownership?
Given their complete mandate in Southwark and perpetual majority in the middle of the Borough, the Labour Party’s Manifesto for Camberwell is a good starting point for a debate (link included for the benefit of non-Labour voters, who may not yet have read this yet).
@Reg — just to clarify my earlier point. I was referring to the sale of the buildings adjacent to and opposite the Town Hall on Peckham Rd & John Smith & Chatelaine Houses on Walworth Rd. These sales were all made possible by the Council’s move to (rented office space, costing millions) in Tooley St, the Lib Dem’s spiritual home.
The Chaucer ward result has now been announced and it was indeed tight. The result is Labour 1 (+1), LD 2 (-1).
After all the excitement I am on retreat…
well in a retreat house anyway with the Friends of the Earth planning and campaigning course.
Just saw this though: http://travel.nytimes.com/2010/05/09/travel/09surfacing.html
Burger n chips in The Tiger the other day. Not as good as the 1st time. And be advised that the homestyle chips are currently nothing of the sort. A problem with the fryer apparently. So they were generic fries. Still good tho.
What a depressing council election result.
Some say the Libs fell back cos of their amnesty for illegal immigrants. Not a popular policy, though very pragmatic. Boris also backed it. I see Boris is going to renationalise the Tube lines. The old tribes have become a bit blurred haven’t they.
@regen: i thought majority of peckham was labour the last four years? could be wrong, though?
@monkeycat: oh yes, hope it’s good!
@random: i think the general elections/policies may have had more to do with local results than they would’ve normally, fear is a very strong emotion to which we all react differently.
still, as a number of people have already said both here and fb, camberwell has got to get back on the map. for the sake of all, not the few.
@Mark Dodds — Yes Indeed, time to kick ass…this is the last opportunity we have to help try and mould Camberwell into a better place to live,work and play
@Monkeycat — Delighted with the results for The Camberwell Party…A great achievement considering the timescale…it’s a positive marker for the future!
@Regenuguru — Thanks for the Labour Party Manifesto for Camberwell!
Regarding the Gala Bingo — I hope we can convince the council to consider buying the building — The aforementioned Labour Party manifesto for Camberwell suggests
something like this could/would be a very positive conduit for Camberwell)
It is the very last opportunity we have…there are no more simular buildings left — a new build would not have the attractive shopfront and central location that we need — A flagship venue to put Camberwell on the map and encourage others to visit here and not just pass through…
Hopefully they can offer the church another site — plenty of council owned properties and brownfield sites around Old Kent Road — with the money they could build a brand new purpose-built building and have some change left behind to perhaps build another!
Grey cloud rolls over the landscape, the smell of ash is in the air, of paralysis, only to be cleared by catharisis, but when? The people languish, longing for the return of the sun. Birds fall from the sky, fish plop to the surface of the sea and die, strange signs are seen in the skies, the leaves on the trees hang limp.
A little campaign to get PR today at 5pm!
http://bit.ly/aeWy3E
Start wearing purple
http://bit.ly/bvDRAL
@monkeycat: can we have a summary of what happened at the foe planning event for people’s republic of southwark please? xxx
[…] Liliana: @monkeycat: can we have a summary of what happened at the foe planning event for people’s republic of… […]
Monkeycat
Purple is a colour which already features prominently in my wardrobe…
My good scorpio intuition ahead of the game as ever…
Following the local elections, Camberwell Community Council will be made up of nine Labour councillors. There will be no formal status for any opposition voices. As the Community Council is now in alignment with Southwark Council we can’t expect any of our councillors to stray far from the Labour Party line for Southwark.
If Camberwell’s councillors were elected under a system of proportional representation for the whole community council area, and we make the unjustified assumption that the same number of people will vote in the same way, the political make up of the Community Council would be:
Labour Party 5 Councillors
Liberal Democrats 2 Councillors
Green Party 1 Councillor
Conservative Party 1 Councillor
The Community Council would still be under the control of Labour, but there would be a broad range of views expressed with three other parties represented. As all Southark’s major parties are represented, it would be harder for any of these parties to ignore Camberwell at Southwark Council level. There would no longer be a sense that Camberwell belongs to the Labour Party, while the North of the borough is Lib Dem territory.
Each councillor would cover a larger geographical area which might make them less knowledgable about your particular part of Camberwell. On the other hand, you could choose to approach a councillor from a party you are more sympathetic with and you could choose which councillors you approached from all nine rather than just three.
Which system would you prefer?
@eusebiovic: random fact number 20: i on the other hand have exactly zero purple items of clothing!
the good thing is that the organisers actually brought tons of purple ribbons & things on saturday so people can purple themselves up
x
@liliana
Yes, Peckham wards have been Labour for a while. But the Core Strategy drafted by LibDems, and the previous Executive approach, was to focus on moving amenities away from Camberwell to Peckham, or to the north of the Borough. Of course, local councillors have always retained significant powers to veto many of these changes in any case.
So one test of the new Labour Executive is whether we see a commitment to restore the levels of employment based in SE5 prior to the Council’s move to Tooley Street, plus the 27 jobs lost with Gala Bingo.
Labour now has the opportunity to reverse the bias towards Peckham which the previous LibDem administration demonstrated, and commit to protecting and expanding SE5 amenities at least as much as those in SE15.
Labour are to be commended for producing its Labour Party Vision for Camberwell, which no other party has yet done, which shows awareness of the harmful symptoms of previous approaches to Camberwell.
Given the effort and consultation which has gone into that document and its relevance to the area, we should do them the common courtesy of promoting, reading and debating it as fully as we can.
do we know when this was put together? as the first time i’d heard of it was at the last community council meeting.
thanks x