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Newly elected Lib Dem councillor Nick Russell (centre, blue shirt) celebrates at the Town Hall |
Knife-edge win for Lib Dems in poll showdown
Rivalry at the Town Hall deepens as claims and counter claims sully result
TENSIONS between rival parties at the Town Hall have been ramped up after an acrimonious by-election tussle in which the Liberal Democrats once again emerged victorious.
Labour and the Lib Dems played out a neck-and-neck race in Kentish Town, as the Greens lost ground.
New councillor Nick Russell’s victory was confirmed just before midnight on Thursday, with a winning margin of 76 votes over Labour’s Awale Olad.
He said: “People wanted to talk about real issues that affect them, like crime and anti-social behaviour, and saving Kentish Town police station.
“As a councillor I intend to listen to the concerns people have and act on them. We have a strong track record of listening to and understanding what people expect from their council.”
He added: “Looking at the result here and the recent result in Hampstead Town where the Lib Dems won the by-election, if those results were extended to a general election then Labour would lose both its MPs in Camden.”
The Lib Dems have now won five out of the last six by-elections in Camden, two of them in Kentish Town which for decades was considered a Labour fortress.
This latest triumph, however, left a bitter taste, with accusations of dirty tricks all round.
Labour leader Councillor Anna Stewart went further, demanding an apology from Lib Dem council leader Councillor Keith Moffitt for the events that led up to the by-election.
It was caused by the resignation of Councillor Philip Thompson, who had secretly enrolled on an American politics course in Arizona in the United States without telling his party’s top brass. In fact, it was the New Journal who broke the news to senior Lib Dem chiefs, and days later Cllr Thompson resigned.
Cllr Stewart said: “I hope the Lib Dems can start with a clean slate. It is an opportunity for them to say they’re sorry because there is anger over the manner in which the by-election was caused.
“Nowhere on the election leaflets or on the doorstep did I hear them say they were sorry. People felt they weren’t being listened to by this administration.”
Labour has been encouraged by a 4 per cent swing in their favour but are aware they need an even bigger shift if they are to ever win back overall control of the council.
In a dizzy collection of claims and counter claims, Labour said that the credentials of Mr Olad as a youth worker had been unfairly queried by Lib Dems during doorstep canvassing. The Lib Dems said they had been explicitly told that he had stepped down as chairman of Camden’s Somali Youth Development Resource Centre.
The Greens, whose candidate Victoria Green failed to build on the past good results in the ward, alleged that some Lib Dem canvassers had unfairly told would-be voters that the Green Party felt they couldn’t win.
And the Lib Dems accused the Tories, who polled well short in fourth, of distributing a spoof “Postcard from Arizona” as a spoiling tactic.
Campaign sources suggested there were even confrontations in the street on polling day and the only issue the main parties were united on was opposition to a BNP candidate, who scraped only 62 votes.
Mr Olad, who would have been the first Somali councillor to be elected in Camden, impressed his party chiefs – and some of his opponents – and is expected to have another shot at getting elected in the future.
Liberal Democrat leader councillor Keith Moffitt said: “As soon as Philip resigned, I don’t think it was a problem. We were very clear that we were going to fight a positive campaign.
“Obviously, we pointed out Labour’s mistakes, but we did not run a negative campaign because we know voters don’t like that.” |
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