Letters
All I want to know is which one to vote for in the new Hampstead and Kilburn constituency to stop the Tories. Should I vote for Glenda Jackson or Ed Fordham?
I don't want to split the progressive vote but that is the danger, for the following reason. The Tories claim it's a Labour/Conservative marginal, which would mean I should vote for Glenda Jackson but the Liberals claim that it's a Labour/Liberal marginal, which would mean I could vote for Ed Fordham. As the Liberals are riding high it could mean that Ed Fordham will suck a lot of votes away from Glenda Jackson, but if the Tory bumf is right that would mean a win for them.
The Liberals claim that Glenda Jackson is lazy and lives in Lewisham. Their man according to the billboard at Queens Park, lives here and loves the area, comes from four generations of his family living here. How do we know that doesn't just mean "gives his parents' address?" Is there any independent information available to enable us to evaluate all these conflicting claims?
Help! How can we avoid splitting the progressive vote?
Joe Public, Hampstead & Kilburn
P.S. How can it be right for the Boundary Commission to deprive us of our beloved Sarah Teather, without a by your leave?
8 comments:
This may be of some help, LibDem propaganda though it may be.
http://www.hampsteadandkilburn.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=208&Itemid=73
What a strange constituency they've cobbled together there. It bears no relation to the constituencies it was cobbled out of.
But yes, no lurching even further to the right, no forcing the poor to pay for the crisis of the rich.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/blog/2010/apr/20/1
And f**k posh boy Cameron and his posh mates.
That looks a well-reasoned article on the Libs web page. The old Brent East was Ken Livingstone's constituency before Sarah Teather took it. I think I'm in a pure yellow area, all the councillors here are Libdems. Labour manages to create the impression of not caring very much. Just had the first leaflet from Glenda Jackson after dozens from the others. However, they have produced the City Academy, new Willesden community hospital and more, albeit PFI.
Chris Philp's tory campaign team bombarded us for months with his mailshots. It's all gone quiet now. The Lib Dems keep up a drip-drip of leaflets. Glenda deigned to drop us a line - once - and I have seen her stalking up the High Road, once. I reckon she'll be relieved if forced to bow out at this election.
Philp was spotted on West End Lane, driving one of those monster truck-style cars and yakking on his mobile. That kind of gesture really helps to whittle things down for the floating voter.
If the Libdem swing is repeated equally across Liberal / Labour marginals and Liberal / Conservative marginals, the Conservatives will end up as the largest party, because of a general swing to them that is also likely. Therefore to stop the Tories the best way to vote is to vote for the Libdems in Libderal / Conservative marginals and to vote for Labour in Labour / Liberal marginals. This is the method that would tend to make Labour the biggest party with the Liberals holding the balance of power. An equal swing across the board to the Liberals would result in a Liberal / Conservative coalition - an abominable prospect. In this light it may be more advisable to vote Labour in Labour / Liberal marginals if your main objective is to stop the Tories. By that logic I should vote for Glenda Jackson.
In effect, Labour need this constituency - Hampstead and Kilburn - if we are to stop the Tories. The Liberals are likely to hold the balance of power anyway, all that electing Ed Fordham might do is to reduce Labour's number of MP's to less than the Tories, which would mean a vote for Ed Fordham + the Conservatives. I do not support the war policies or some of the other Labour policies but the Conservatives are all that obnoxiousness x 10. I also find the Libdems blowing with every wind really silly but at least they are vaguely humanist in orientation by comparison with the others.
A conservative leaflet was dropped in through my letterbox. In the folded leaflet was a BNP leaflet.
Either the conservatives do not have enough volunteers to deliver these and are paying a company to do so (which is making a quick buck by delivering for two parties and inserting one leaflet inside the other, for ease) or the conservatives are embracing their racist past...
Labour local organisers if you are reading this, you are wasting your money and confusing your voters by delivering leaflets for Dawn Butler in Brondesbury ward. It is now part of Glenda Jackson's constituency, get with it!
Clegg has now said he won't support Brown if Labour come in third. (Typical wishy-washy stance, not covering what happens if they are second!) I think I might have to take the "Liberals winning here" sticker off my front window and put "I'm backing Glenda" - but wait, no sticker - maybe the Big Society / Big Mac d.i.y. "couldn't care less in the community" will make me one?
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