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General election pointers from the May Day poll
• YOU carried extensive coverage of the mayoral and London Assembly elections here in Camden (Bruised Labour may turn to Greens for Town Hall pact, May 8).
You correctly pointed out that these were a great success for local Conservatives, winning 40 per cent of the vote compared with Labour’s 29 per cent in the assembly elections in Camden, with Boris doing even better in the mayoral race in the borough.
I was therefore surprised to see council leader Keith Moffitt suggesting that we have to “wait and see” what the implications of the vote are for Camden.
We really don’t.
Based on the 180,000 real votes cast on May 1 the Liberal Democrats got just 12 per cent for our local assembly seat – the best measure of performance, as it is not impacted by the personalities in the mayoral race (in which Conservatives actually did even better and the Lib Dems even worse than the assembly race).
The Lib Dem result this year was actually worse than in 2004 and ours better. On the same day, the Lib Dems came a very poor fourth in the Highgate by-election. The same was true in Brent, where Conservatives came a very close second to Labour (37 per cent to 36 per cent) and the Lib Dems trailed a long way behind in third, again with 12 per cent of the vote.
Whatever Councillor Moffitt may try to claim, The Lib Dems were comprehensively beaten in these elections in our local area.
What’s clear from these real election results is that the new Hampstead & Kilburn parliamentary seat is a two-horse race between the Conservatives and Labour.
I’m looking forward to the campaign whenever Gordon Brown summons the courage to kick it off!
Chris Philp
Conservative Parliamentary Candidate, Hampstead & Kilburn
Electoral trend there for all to see
• I AM sure local psephologists who have studied recent council by-election results will have noticed an interesting and consistent trend since May 2006.
After the sea-change recorded in the all-out council elections of May 2006, which saw the Liberal Democrats emerge as the largest party on Camden Council, there have been five by-elections in all sorts of seats impacting on our area.
The first two led to the Liberal Democrats gaining seats from Labour in Kentish Town and then Haverstock.
In both, the Tories came a poor fourth.
Then in Fortune Green the Liberal Democrats were defending a seat which the Tories had firmly in their sights as a potential gain but, despite throwing everything into the campaign, the Conservatives made no dent in the Liberal Democrats’ lead here, with Nancy Jirira getting the sort of result which normally only the long-standing Flick Rea would get.
Across the border in Brent, in Queen’s Park, crucial to the new Hampstead and Kilburn constituency, the by-election was fought out between the Lib Dems and Labour with the Liberal Democrat candidate extending a previously narrow lead. The Tories performed poorly again.
Finally, we have the Highgate by-election.
A Conservative resigns and the Tories aim to benefit from the Boris effect by calling the by-election on the same day as the mayoral election.
The Greens win and the Tories cede second place to Labour.
Even in our wildest dreams the Liberal Democrats did not expect to do well here. But look at the percentage shares and the Tories fall-back and there is a swing to the Liberal Democrats in fourth place!
So right across Camden, in all sorts of wards, the Liberal Democrats continue to make progress and the Conservatives languish.
It is clear that local voters know who to credit for improving Camden Council’s performance and for offering local leadership on a range of issues.
And when it comes to a general election, and the opportunity to oust the Labour MP for Hampstead, it will be the Liberal Democrats that voters will turn to.
Cllr John Bryant
Liberal Democrat, West Hampstead ward
Extremists
• IN your Comment (May 8) you refer to the British National Party as an extremist party.
So, how many countries has this party invaded and how many people has it killed?
I think you know the answer to that.
Conversely, how many countries have the Labour government, aided by the Conservative party, invaded? Answer, two.
And how many people have they killed? Answer, tens of thousands.
I voted for the first time in 10 years against the Labour government, for the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, out-of-control immigration and the appalling state of the health service.
I had four votes and gave one to the Liberal Democrats, one to the Conservatives and two to the BNP.
So congratulations to the BNP, the only party to truly represent the local indigenous working classes, for getting a foothold.
Long may you continue to expand.
I have an idea that our next prime minister will be Boris Johnson, who obviously is very popular.
Let’s wait and see. Not long now.
Dorothy Steele
Belsize Avenue, NW3
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