Friday 5 May 2017

Is an electoral alliance to beat the Tories possible in Hampstead and Kilburn?




 Above from Electoral Calculus website LINK the ward prediction is based on estimates the working for which can be found HERE

Green Party members in Hampstead & Kilburn have mandated an approach to Hampstead & Kilburn's current Labour MP, Tulip Siddiq, with a view to a possible electoral alliance, given her narrow majority and Parliamentary voting record on important Green issues such as opposing Brexit and opposing the renewal of Trident LINK.
The Hampstead and Kilburn Constituency covers 7 wards in Camden and three in Brent. Brent wards are Brondesbury Park, Kilburn and Queens Park.
 
Green Party members will ask Tulip Siddiq for support and commitments on key Green issues in order to consider withdrawing their Hampstead & Kilburn candidate, including but not limited to:
  • Campaigning for electoral reform and proportional representation for Westminster.
  • Lobbying Brent and Camden Councils for divestment of their pension funds from fossil fuels.
  • Urging leader the Labour leader and Labour colleagues to support electoral alliances where appropriate, in particular to stand down and support Green candidates in the Isle of Wight and Brighton Pavilion.
  • Regular contact after the election with Green Party members.
Tulip Siddiq has been invited to speak at a Green Party meeting of local members that will take place next week. At this meeting a final decision will be put to Green Party members for a vote.
 
The Greens will also contact the Liberal Democrats in Hampstead & Kilburn with a view to them joining any electoral alliance.
 
John Holmes, Co-Chair of Camden Green Party, explained:
There are a variety of views within Brent and Camden Green Parties on the issue of electoral alliances, and we've had a very healthy debate. We've a terrific Hampstead & Kilburn candidate in John Mansook, and so any decision to stand down won't be taken lightly. We've created a process whereby Green Party members get a say on any final decision, and they will want commitments from Tulip on key Green issues in order to make this a true alliance.
Despite opposition from their respective leaderships Labour and Liberal Democrat members have reached electoral agreements in several constituencies where the non-Tory vote combined would beat Conservatives. UKIP have withdrawn in favour of Brexit Tories in a 'regressive alliance'.

Brent Green Party adopted the following position at their own meeting prior to the joint meeting which selected John Mansook, their Chair, as  Green Party candidate for Hampstead and Kilburn:
Our principled position is that we stand a candidate.  We believe that Green voters are entitled to have the opportunity to vote for their party of choice and a Green General Election campaign will help us build support in our strongest wards for the May 2018 Council elections when we  hope our first Green councillors will be elected. We recognise that some Green voters, faced with the prospect of another Conservative government will none the less make a tactical decision to vote Labour.
Tulip Siddiq signed a letter to the Guardian on Monday calling for the Labour party to stand aside of Brighton Pavilion and the Isle of Wight:
With the progressive vote split, the danger of a Tory landslide and all it means for our country now looms darkly on June 8. It is therefore important to maximise progressive votes and campaigning in some key seats.
She told the Camden New Journal LINK:
It can’t be denied that Caroline Lucas has been a good MP, and I’ve worked with her on several issues including lowering the voting age to 16.
Note: My personal comment would be that there is a danger of voters thinking that electoral alliance deals are a 'fix' by the political parties which are made without reference to them, and that they themselves can make their own tactical voting decisions in constituencies where the parties are finely balanced.



3 comments:

Pete Firmin said...

I can't speak for Tulip, but as a Labour party member in Hampstead & Kilburn (the safe labour bit - Kilburn Brent) I support all the policies you list as crucial, though I would argue there are a lot of other important ones not mentioned. However, the give away is that the Green party is also approaching the Lib Dems. By what criteria are the Lib Dems `progressive'? Has everyone forgotten the coalition? Or is the only policy which really matters proportional representation? While I support PR, I actually think opposing austerity and restoring workers' rights need to be higher on the agenda. But they don't get a look in. Tulip may be urging Labour not to stand in Brighton, but that's not in her gift. Labour Party rules say the Party must stand in every constituency, and candidates have been announced for every constituency. Oh, and according to the predictions shown, the Green Party vote is not the difference between labour and the Tories.

Martin Francis said...

I think those suggesting an electoral (not progressive) alliance are interested in defeating the Tories - not just in H&K but nationally. As you say the predicted vote shows that Lib Dem votes would also be needed to defeat the Tory candidate. Seems unlikely that they would join an alliance. On the other hand if Tulip/local LP agreed and Greens stood down she might gather 1,000-1,500 additional votes. The Green Party has good policies on austerity and restoring TU rights compatible with the LP's so that isn't a negotiating point - we broadly agree on those policies.

Kilburn Unemployed Workers Group said...

As Alan Wheatley I am a Green Party member in a different constituency; As 'Dude Swheatie of Kwug' I am a member of the non-party-political Kilburn Unemployed Workers Group, while the Tory Party has become reviled by the KUWG on account of the fruits by which the people we represent know the Tory Party by.

Close ally of KUWG is Revd Paul Nicolson, founder of the non-party-political Taxpayers Against Poverty. Our friend Paul writes regarding what has emerged since the Charity Commission quashed an Oxfam 'Perefect Storm' social media campaign: "THE WEATHER FORECAST IS HURRICANES FOR THE POOREST - EVEN SUNNIER FOR THE RICH" — It has been a PERFECT STORM It is a PERFECT TWISTER It will be a PERFECT HURRICANE ever deeper: This is how government gags
the churches, faiths and charities.
.

Regarding the splitting of votes in a General Election, it seems that in the Hampstead & Kilburn consituency in 2010 and 2015, UKIP's Magnus Nielsen was a real 'party pooper' for the Conservative candidate.