As I sat through George Osborne’s Comprehensive Spending Review in the Commons today, I was reminded of a remark made by a senior Labour party official last night. “The spending review is going to help us,” he told me. “It’ll get people out to vote.”
I wasn’t so sure – and I’m still not. Where I live in Bow, until tonight, it’s been almost a campaign-free zone. I’d had one leaflet delivered through my door – from the Lib Dems – and that was it. I’d guess that most around here hadn’t even known there was an election taking place.
Then Ken Livingstone, in his pre-Maltese period, entered the fray – a move that, ironically, could have helped Labour because it attracted the attention of BBC London and other national media.
And tonight, as I walked back from the Tube, I even saw ACTUAL CAMPAIGNERS. Labour ones. At 9pm, delivering leaflets. And leaflets that have an edge – ones that try to invoke the spirit of anti-Galloway.
Here’s one side:
And here’s the other:
They are leaflets that insinuate without any right of reply. Allowable, but just about I’d say.
And here’s the Lib Dem leaflet that also dropped on my doormat this evening.
Will they be enough? Who knows?
Today’s Coalition spending review announced a revolution in local government. Councils, even corrupt and badly run ones, will have far more powers over how to spend our money. That means even more power to a directly elected mayor.
So to anyone who moans about bin collections, extortionate council taxes, cowboy council home repairs, dog mess, graffiti, broken pavements, litter, missing recycling bags, soaring service charges, lack of police, or dodgy local politicians: you have a responsibility to spend just two minutes registering a vote.
Alors…
Trial by Jeory 
Weird that you’ve only had the one. Here in BG North I’ve had at least half a dozen – even the Tories made the effort.
Well, to be fair (crikey, that WILL ruin my reputation), my flat is often too difficult for even the postman to find.
It’s not hard to imagine that you haven’t seen much evidence of a campaign. A borough is a big place, candidates were confirmed at last minute and I imagine the penthouse you *doubtless* live in as a well paid hack isolates you from the hoi-palloi; hard to get to many gated communities. You might be surprised though: people – yes, ordinary people – were talking about the CSR on the district line and my impression has been that the electorate in lbth is very informed and knowledgeable about the situation.
Have the tories had a campaign?
The Conservatives have been out every night campaigning across the Borough. Last Saturday we had over 40 Conservative Future activists out in Bow and Mile End. I was out on Sunday with one of the two teams working in the Millwall ward. If Garry Wilson (or what ever your name really is) has not seen us, it is because our campaign is sophisticated enough to exclude “Anti’s” of all Parties. Like everyone else we also have problems with wealthy “gated communities”. So perhaps he is a Champagne Socialist? For his information here are a couple of links about Neil King’s campaign.
http://kingformayor.blogspot.com/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/davehillblog/2010/sep/28/tower-hamlets-mayoral-election-campaign-peter-golds-neil-king-conservatives
The canvassing strategy has been to knock up the Labour vote, so unless you’ve made previous promise you wouldn’t have heard from us in person.
As for leaflets, we’ve been slack in Bow East as we seem to have lost our campaign leader and it’s only in the last few days that we’ve realised that each one of us thought the other one of us was the one who was in charge.
If you lived in Bow West you would certainly have been better leafleted.
If you want, I can put you down as a Labour voter in this campaign, but there’s no guarantee that the same strategy will be used next election. It may well be that politics in the east end becomes serene and predictable after tomorrow’s “Mother of all Polls”.
ha ha ha ha ha…sorry, pause for breath,…ha ha ha! That has made my day!
Just to clarify, the reason for concentrating on the Labour vote is that we already have very good data from recent elections, and since Lutfur’s vote is also within this block, it was considered most efficient in the short period of campaigning to concentrate on those most likely to go to the polls and most likely to cast a vote our way.
So it’s been a GOTV election, Get Out The Vote, rather than a search for new supporters.
Ah more dirty campaigning by the Labour party. What else are they good? Voters like us need information on what the candidates will and will not do. To give leaftlets with Galloway-bashing shows the low level the Labour party is willing to go to.
Just to be clear, that’s negative campaigning, but accusations that a Muslim candidate is Islamophobic, or that he beat his wife, are in some way OK?
It looks as if the massed ranks of intimidating Bangladeshi “Polling Agents” have started early this time. Normally they only appear, to block the pavements, importune hapless voters and generally create an atmosphere of menace around the Boroughs polling stations on the day itself. This time a large gang of “Lutfurites” were seen outside the Teviot Centre in East India & Lansbury ward on Wednesday Afternoon! What were they up to, not even they seemed to know? Ted, will you monitor this increasingly ugly local phenomena?
Lutfur Rahman and Hellal Abbas were always going to direct their attacks against each other. They are the “Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee” of Tower Hamlets. In the song of the same name by the great Bob Dylan, he sings:
Tweedle-dee Dum said to Tweedle-dee Dee
“Your presence is obnoxious to me.”
Well, they’re living in a happy harmony
Tweedle-dee Dum and Tweedle-dee Dee
They’re one day older and a dollar short
They’ve got a parade permit and a police escort
Tweedle-dee Dee is a lowdown, sorry old man
Tweedle-dee Dum, he’ll stab you where you stand
“I’ve had too much of your company,”
Says, Tweedle-dee Dum to Tweedle-dee Dee
Neither will get my vote.
[…] – an open thread The Conservative commenter PWE Ingham this morning posted the below on this thread: It looks as if the massed ranks of intimidating Bangladeshi “Polling Agents” have started […]
I was in the Spitalfields area mid-morning. There were small groups of Labour and Rahmanites (all Asian) on the pavement outside Christ Church Primary in Brick Lane and Canon Barnett Primary in Gunthorpe St. Labour tried to give me a leaflet as I went for a nose inside Christ Church. At Canon Barnett all ignored me (white male) but a Lutfur lass offered a leaflet to a female Asian voter.
No intimidation but not quite right.
Here in stepney we only got labour & LR leaflets, no Con, no Lib or green. Let this mudslinging be over, so we get a mayor that tackles rougue RSLs like Swan Housing.
By the way Ted this is an excellent blog. Keep up the Good work.
My feet hurt and my head feel tired but why does my heart feel so free? Because the work is done, the fight is over and a new era for our community has begun. Now lets all unite, be friends again and make everyone envy our success and unity.
LUTFUR RAHMAN IS THE NEW DIRECTLY ELECTED MAYOR OF TOWER HAMLETS
ALL THE LUTFUR BASHING PEOPLE… I HOPE YOU HAVE SEVERE NIGHTMARES FOR ALL THE INJUSTICE YOU HAVE CAUSED.
A GREAT NIGHT FOR LUTFUR
EVEN NEIL KING CAME OUT LAUHING AND I QUOTE HIM…
“NO MORE LABOUR IN THIS BOROUGH”
THAT SAYS A LOT…