Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Blah Blah Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------


>

> Of course most people vote out of self interest

> and that's why all parties set policies to

> 'reward' groups of people for voting for them.


You are correct.



> Labours success in London is not down to people on

> benefits, it's down to a whole mix of people, from

> Judges and the well educated, to the small

> business owner.


Here you contradict your earlier statement.

London is also different to the rest of the country in that it has so much money floating around. You'll also have a council estate next to millionaires mansions. It's that mix that skews everything, whilst at the same time levelling the quality of local services up, rather than down. Local authorities in other cities however, don't have revenue for keeping parks nice, or funding community events on anything like the same scale. They are far more restricted by the overall demographic of the area they manage, just because the demograhpic mix isn't so wide ranging within their boroughs. Even someting like Tfl is unique to london.

Hampstead and Kilburn (which is probably close to Dulwich and West Norwood demographically) also voted Labour back in with a tiny majority. This is an area also full of media luvvies, well off people etc who are more liberal leaning than in other parts of the country.


If the old Dulwich constituency area was still in place, I still think Helen Hayes would have been elected, but it'd be a more interesting fight between Labour and the Tories. As mentioned, it's the old Norwood seat which will maintain Labour in Dulwich as a safe seat.

I suspect the Lib Dems were stuffed in Dulwich for the same reason they were stuffed across the country - people were polarised wanting either a conservative or a socialist (Lab/ SNP) government. We had all been led to believe that further coalition was likely and the Lib Dems had indicated that they could ally with either the conservatives or the socialists. That meant that in voting for them you couldn't know whether that would make a conservative or a socialist government more likely. If you lent more to Tory, or to Labour, then voting Lib Dem was voting for an unknown, you could be left leaning and make a Tory led coalition more possible, or right leaning and find the Lib Dems allying with Labour. So that forced electors to go for the main party of their choice - even if they would have preferred either a Labour government tempered by Lib Dem views, or a Tory one ditto. Because the Lib Dems tried to ride both horses, they found themselves riding neither.


Frankly the quality and reputation of the actual candidates wasn't relevant - hence we saw great constituency MPs being knocked down. If the Lib Dems had been clear about where their sympathies lay they would certainly have lost seats, but not nearly as many. Clearly they upset their more left leaning electors by working in coalition for the last 5 years, but had they stuck to their guns their former Tory sympathisers might well have stuck to them. Or vice versa. By keeping their negotiating powder dry they found themselves with nothing to negotiate for.

maxxi Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I confess to being delighted Simon Hughes lost his

> seat. He was a venomous snake who deserved to be

> dumped a long time ago. I lived in SE1 for 8 years

> and had some contact with him in various roles re

> housing and tenants associations - he was a self

> serving egotist and a snide.

>



I agree. I'm delighted he lost his seat.

I never understand why people sneer with labels like 'champagne socialists'. If it were not for MPs and Lords (who in the past were more likely to be from the landed gentry) taking up causes to help the poor and bring about social reform, we'd still be living in some kind of early Victorian nightmare. Affluent people are as capable of wanting a fairer society as anyone. Not everyone has to be totally self interested and damning everyone else.

We put a huge amount of our effort into helping Simon Hughes.

I think P68 analysis is spot on. Lib dem strategy played to the Tory strategy of fear about Labour and SNP. Labour out campaigned us locally with things like hours to save the NHS, coalition will close King's College hospital, etc.

Either way its over.

Unlikely they'll ever be another Dulwich & West Norwood general election campaign assuming the tories now press ahead with significant boundary changes.

Right you are!


Zebedee Tring Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> income tax from 40 percent when they took office

> to 45 percent now (they were temoparirly 50

> percent) but are still 5 percent higher than when

> they took office >

>

> This is wrong. Labour increased the top rate from

> 40% to 50% in their last months in office (far too

> late IMHO) and Osborne then cut the rate to 45%,

> since they were so concerned about the tax

> "burden" on multi-millionaires. If it had not been

> for the Lib Dems, they would have probably cut it

> back to 40%.

>

> This is not to defend the Lib Dems' role in the

> coalition since they allowed many bad things to

> happen, in particular the so-called "reform" of

> the NHS.

Blah Blah Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I never understand why people sneer with labels

> like 'champagne socialists'. If it were not for

> MPs and Lords (who in the past were more likely to

> be from the landed gentry) taking up causes to

> help the poor and bring about social reform, we'd

> still be living in some kind of early Victorian

> nightmare. Affluent people are as capable of

> wanting a fairer society as anyone. Not everyone

> has to be totally self interested and damning

> everyone else.



William Wilberforce. Bloody champagne socialist.

bobbsy Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Can someone explain to a layman why many central

> city areas across England are so labour centric?


Er, because privately educated, out of touch, bloated plutocrats don't tend to represent them very well, perhaps?

I worked extremely hard over the last 12 months to ensure that Simon Hughes was ousted from Bermondsey and Old Southwark and that the very hard working Neil Coyle replaced him as MP. Simon appeared completely oblivious to the fact that hsi constituents who previously supported him could see through his habit over the last five years of saying one thing and voting for another. Still, please don't feel too sorry for Simon Hughes as his selling of his soul by entering government as a minister will at least result in him having a significantly enhanced pension from 8th May.


I also worked hard to get Helen Hayes elected in Dulwich and West Norwood and I know she will be an excellent MP who will work every bit as hard as any of the other parliamentary candidates would have done. Anyone who knowing Helen - she's been a very hard working, effective and well liked councillor for College Ward since 2010 - knows she will work for fairness and for the representation of all living in the constituency.

You are such an idiot/ troll (haven't decided which yet) uncleglen.


I agree that Simon Hughes couldn't expect anything else after towing the Tory whip in pretty much every vote of the first three years of the Tory coalition, including on tuition fees. Being a good local MP counts for nothing when you run the kind of campaign he did to get that seat and then at the first grasp of central government sells out on every principle that made him a liberal democrat in the first place (and for what? A vote on AV - which is not PR btw). No symapthy from me. He chose that path.


I have my issues with James Barber's views, but that doesn't stop me from acknowlegding the effort he puts into local issues and representing local people.

It's TOEING the party whip as in TOEING the party line blah blah. TOWING is when you get pulled along by something-you know TOW path, TOWING the car etc. Anyway you can think what you like about me. Hopefully now the boundaries will be altered without Clegg interfering like he did last year.

If the original proposals go through this time to have a constituency where the majority of ED including Peckham Rye ward merges with part of the Lewisham West and Penge constituency to become the Dulwich and Sydenham constituency, here at least it'll remain a safe Labour seat.


Nationally, it would be more damaging to Labour.

Bic, I think they'll have to alter those proposals because they were based on having 600 MPs, but Cameron has apparently agreed to have 650 so there won't be unseemly scrabbling between MPs for the seats.


And on a point someone else made, the LibDems binned the boundary changes in retaliation for the Tories failing to back Lord's reform.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Latest Discussions

    • What was he doing on the stage at Glastonbury? Or on the stage at the other concert in Finsbury Park? Grinning like a Cheshire cat whilst pissed and stoned 20 somethings on the promise of free internet sung-- Oh Jeremy Corbyn---  What were his policies for Northern mining towns with no jobs or infrastructure? Free Internet and university places for youngsters. What were his other manifesto pledges? Why all the ambiguity over Brexit?  I didn't like Thatcher, Blair or May or Tony but I respected them as politicians because they stood by what they believed in. I respect all politicians across the board that stick to their principles. Corbyn didn't and its why he got  annihilated at the polls. A socialist, anti imperialist and anti capitalist that said he voted for an imperialist and pro capitalist cabal. He refused to say how he'd vote over and over again until the last knockings. He did so to appease the Islington elite and middle class students he was courting. The same people that were screaming that Brexit was racist. At the same time the EU were holding black and Asian immigrants in refugee camps overseas but not a word on that! Corbyn created and courted a student union protest movement that screamed at and shouted down anyone not on the left . They claimed Starmer and the centre right of labour were tories. He didn't get elected  because he, his movement and policies were unelectable, twice. He turned out not to have the convictions of his politics and died on his own sword.    Reform won't win an election. All the idiots that voted for them to keep out Labour actually enabled Labour. They'll be back voting tory next time.    Farage wouldn't be able to make his millions if he was in power. He's a very devious shyster but I very much doubt he'd actually want the responsibility that governance requires.
    • The purge of hard left members that were part of Corbyn's, Mcdonnel's and Lansmans momentum that purged the party of right wing and centrist members. That's politics. It's what Blair did to win, its what Starmer had to do to win. This country doesn't vote in extreme left or right governments. That's partly why Corbyn lost  We're pretty much a centrist bunch.  It doesn't make it false either. It's an opinion based on the voting patterns, demography and statistics. Can you explain then why former mining constituencies that despise the tories voted for them or abstained rather than vote for Corbyns Labour?  What is the truth then? But he never got elected!!! Why? He should have been binned off there and then. Why he was allowed to hang about is an outrage. I hold him party responsible for the shit show that we've had to endure since. 
    • Depends on what the Barista says doesnt it? There was no physical confrontation with the driver, OP thinks she is being targetted when she isnt. These guys work min wage under strict schedules so give them a break unless they damage your stuff
    • CPR Dave, attendance records are available on Southwark's website. Maggie Browning has attended 100% of meetings. Jon Hartley has attended 65%.
Home
Events
Sign In

Sign In



Or sign in with one of these services

Search
×
    Search In
×
×
  • Create New...