Streatham on a Knife Edge

Chris Nicholson, LibDem candidate for Streatham in South London in the forthcoming general election rallied the troops at his launch at the Bocca restaurant in Streatham High Road this evening, aided and abetted by (Lord) Chris Rennard (and other attendant locally resident peers), who shared recollections of the 1986 West Derbyshire by-election, when my earstwhile BBC colleague Chris Walmsley failed by a mere 100 votes to seize the seat from the Tories, and Ed Davey’s dramatic win — by a margin of 56 votes — in Kingston and Surbiton in 1997. The purpose of this nostalgia was to incite the assembled throng to yet more activity because, Lord Rennard opined, the Streatham result this time is going to be very, very close. And as a political betting man with a sixth sense when it comes to predicting results, he should know. So, a double message for the burghers of Streatham in the run-up to 6 May: all LibDem hands from the constituency and surrounding area to the pump, and for those Conservatives/Greens and others who may just want to get Labour out: you know what to do!

Link: www.chrisnicholson.org.uk

Floella Benjamin’s LibDem Playschool in Hackney

Keith Angus, LibDem PPC for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, played host this evening at a fundraising dinner for the borough party at the YumYum Thai restaurant in his constituency — a splendid venue occupying historic former Council offices. Made me think that the House of Commons could be turned into an excellent diner. Anyway, Floella Benjamin — hot from a weekend’s campaigning alongside her local LibDem PPC, Chris Nicholson, in Streatham — was the great draw of the evening. And drew she did, filling the private dining area and even eliciting a spontaneous ‘We love you, Floella!’ from one of the establishment’s regular young lady clients. Half of the men in the audience under the age of 50 turned into recycled infants, cooing as Floella gave us all an almost evangelical speech about how anyone, like her, can overcome the hurdles in life and how the LibDems must offer hope, honesty and trustworthiness at the upcoming general election. All grist to the mill for those of us in East London who have to talk to an electorate sickened by the disappointment (to put it mildly) of New Labour and the tinsel-like superficiality of Cameroonian Conservativism. The evening — with both an auction and raffle — made a tidy sum of the local party’s coffers, but more importantly inspired not only the Hackney footsoldiers, but those who had come from neighbouring Tower Hamlets, Islington and Camden as well.

Link: www.keithangus.com

Learning from European Best Practice

Early this morning I was at Vauxhall bus station in the London borough of Lambeth, alongside Caroline Pidgeon (Member of the Greater London Assembly), Tom Brake MP (Carshalton and Wallington) and the target parliamentary seat LibDem PPCs, Chris Nicholson (Streatham) and Bridget Fox (Islington South). We were launching a campaign to introduce cheap one-hour bus tickets in London, which would enable bus passengers to transfer from one route to another within the space of 60 minutes, without having to buy a separate ticket for each section of their journey. Such timed transfer-type tickets are common in several continental cities and it’s amazing that this still isn’t the case in a cosmopolitan metropolis like London. But it is never too late to learn from our EU’s partners’ best practice!