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Parties in order of total vote:
Labour 4980
Green 795
Conservative 735
Lib Dem 627
Turnout was 25.49%
The overall message was of continued Labour dominance but Greens felt they had mounted a good campaign with fewer resources than other parties.
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| Green candidates William Relton and Shaka Lish with Martin Francis, Election Agent |
Sometimes a little effort goes further than resources. In the lead up, my experience was:
ReplyDeleteLabour: Candidates knock on my door twice to discuss local issues, as well as being seen in the local area talking to residents on a number of occasions.
Greens: Candidates/ campaigners in the local area talking to residents on a number of occasions.
Lib Dems: Completely invisible, apart from a flyer through the door hours before polling closed (focusing on that very local issue of Brexit...).
Conservatives: Completely invisible.
I chose be up front and so I say what's new?
ReplyDeleteLabour getting most of the votes in Willesden
will not change the way I feel about local democracy.
Labour swept the board country wide in 1997 and made many promises
of which many went unfulfilled.
So why should I or indeed other brent residents view this 'victory' as something exceptional?
One thing I have learned is that 'real success' is defined by the effect that the political parties have upon the borough and its people.
Right now Brent is a very unstable and troublesome place in spite of previous 'victories' in the ballot box.
That says much to me about the ability (or lack) in the parties that win the most votes.
Thank you for publishing my comments Martin.
ReplyDeleteI would like to follow them up by saying that the reason why my faith in local democracy is ebbing away is because (in my opinion) the fruits of democracy tend to be bitter and I am tired of eating bitter fruit.
I want sweet results that will make me thank rather than criticise the people that sow the seeds of democracy.
I also think that if the fruits of democracy are still still bitter after decades of sowing and reaping then there is no point in looking to it for good results because by now Brent should really be a beautiful pleasnt place in which to live, work, rest and play.
Instead it is anything other than those desirable things and I wonder if there will come a day when I will feel glad to call Brent my home?
I believe that is possible but we have to all work together to make it happen.