Meg Hillier: Zero tolerance of Lib Dems

There's not much in this piece from the Times other than: "Harriet Harman, acting party leader, later convened a meeting of Labour MPs where anger was voiced towards the Tories’ new partners in government. Meg Hillier, a former Home Office minister, demanded that Labour abandon co-operation deals with the Lib Dems on local councils."

Both of Meg's Labour MP predecessors in Hackney South defected to the liberals...

UKpollingreport.co.uk: "Oddly enough two Labour MPs for Hackney South in a row have defected to the centre party. Ron Brown, MP for Hackney South and Shoreditch from 1974-1983 defected to the SDP in 1981, when he was defeated by Labour`s Brian Sedgemore. Sedgemore in turn defected to the Liberal Democrats shortly before 2005 when he stood down from Parliament. In the 1990s the Liberal Democrats enjoyed success at a local level here, but it never translated into Parliamentary strength and following a difficult period of Liberal Democrat-Conservative control of Hackney council they largely collapsed, leaving every council seat in this ward in the hands of Labour."

Is Hackney fragmenting? Is Diane's support fragmenting?

Would the leaflet pictured below qualify as communalism? Or the opposite? The message is from Muslim Lib Dem councillor, Dawood Akhoon, and he is calling on Muslim brothers and sisters to vote Lib Dem. As his two Lib Dem colleagues in the Cazenove ward are both ultra-orthodox Jews, Ian Sharer and Abraham Jacobson, it is hardly what you'd expect in a propaganda leaflet aimed at Muslims.

But the person who sent it to Blood and Property believes it has a bearing on the debate about communalism. It is clear that this leaflet was not intended for general release - so does it confirm the views of Geoffrey Alderman that Hackney Politicians have to interpret the community along racial or religious lines? (for the opposite view: Abraham Pinter responds to Geoffrey Alderman)

Not sure if the photos below will be legible but the leaflet starts off with "Dear Brother/Sister in Islam" and goes on to say: "As Muslims and residents of Hackney, we have many challenges ahead both locally and nationally."

It ends saying: "We have always served and supported the Muslim Community and we are all committed to continue to do so."

Meanwhile Diane Abbott laments the days when ethnic communities stood shoulder to shoulder against racists. In a piece in the Independent she writes: "The other strength of the anti-racist movement of that era was that it was genuinely multi-racial. Black, white and Asian went to Southall to resist the fascists. Since then we have seen a regrettable fragmentation. First Asian people resisted being called black. Now Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus all insist on a separate identities. A distinct cultural identity is one thing. But the struggle against racism has been immeasurably weakened by the political fragmentation we have seen in past decades."

Could Diane's vote base be suffering from the same problem? Earlier this week her Lib Dem opponent Keith Angus claimed that Afro-Caribbean voters were deserting her - Diane has yet to reply to Blood and Property's questions on this.

But what about Hackney's African population? Are Nigerians still smarting over Diane's 2006 article: Think Jamaica is bad, try Nigeria? Christian Party leader, George Hargreaves has focused on British-Nigerian voters. Could African voter identify more with his Christian Party? Could Diane's voter base, as well as the anti-racist movement, be suffering from fragmentation?

(Hackney Christians: Money, power, demonic possession)

Lib Dems leave Hackney strategy in a pub - is there an opposition conspiracy?

Apparently the Lib Dems left their election strategy for Hackney in the Wellington Pub on Balls Pond Road last week. Blood and Property has been told that the Labour activists who found it were not particularly surprised by its contents but were pleased for the confirmation.

The document allegedly says the target wards for Lib Dem canvassing are Cazenove, Brownswood, Hoxton and Hackney Central.

A source told Blood and Property that the combined campaign efforts of the Lib Dems, Greens and Conservatives look as if they may have been co-ordinated. So are opposition parties doing their best not to step on each others toes?

The conspiracy theory is that the Greens are targeting Stoke Newington Central and Clissold while the Conservatives are concentrating on the wards they already hold but also on Queensbridge and De Beauvoir.

If all of these were successful, then Hackney would have a hung council.

Matt Sellwood spotted the Labour Party habit of pushing this hung council phobia earlier this month. He provided a detailed break down with pie-charts and all: Labour's hung council ploy

Hopefully there is some truth in the conspiracy theories. May be the opposition parties should be working together. With any luck they'll have a bit more power to hold the Labour monolith to account after May 6.

Chops, changes, councillor controversies...

This morning Matthew Coggins, leader of Hackney's Conservative group, expressed a little frustration at Blood and Property's "obsession" with the ultra-orthodox Jewish community. It was much the same as the frustration expressed by Conservative mayoral candidate, Andrew Boff, when he answered Blood and Property's 'distasteful' questions two weeks ago.

Meanwhile, Ian Sharer, leader of Hackney's Lib Dems, who is an ultra-orthodox Jew, expressed no such frustration.

Luckily both Sharer and Coggins were happy to discuss the changes that have taken place in their candidate line-ups.

And the most interesting changes appear to be those affecting the ultra-orthodox Jewish community.

The fates of two are of particular interest. Joseph Stauber, who was a Lib Dem councillor in Cazenove ward from 2002 until he defected to Labour in 2008, will not be standing again. He was the only ultra-orthodox Labour councillor in Hackney.

And Simon Tesler, former ultra-orthodox Jewish Conservative councillor for Lordship, was de-selected. He has decided to stand as an independent in the ward.

Tesler was one of six ultra-orthodox Jewish councillors in the Conservative Group. But he has been replaced by Alexander Ellis, who was the Conservative candidate for the GLA in 2008.

The swapping of Tesler for Ellis is not totally straight forward. The Conservative decision to drop Tesler might have been made more painful because the party also took on a new ultra-orthodox Jewish councillor to replace a departing Jacob Landau.

Via a chain of replacements, Landau's departure made an opening for Benzion Tapier. This could be seen as a double snub for Tesler and might explain his decision to stand as an independent.

Tesler could still argue that he isn't splitting the "Jewish vote" (an interesting article) by standing because he has not been replaced by an ultra-orthodox Jewish councillor. He is simply relying on those who supported him before. A Labour source said that this rift in the Conservative Party could make the ward an interesting one to watch.

Matthew Coggins, said that Tesler's position had disproved the theory that ulta-orthodox Jewish councillors don't stand against each other.

But according to Lib Dem leader Ian Sharer, this practice is very much still the norm.

Sharer has always been open about the tendency of ultra-orthodox Jews not to stand against each other in elections. In January he told Blood and Property: "It is not a scriptural thing. The basic thing is that the Jewish community votes for Jewish councillors. They don't care which party you're in. They support you if you're Jewish."

He said that having more than one Jewish candidate in an election made it "confusing" and that these conflicts could get "nasty and a bit silly". He said that tactical voting of this kind took place in various forms in all politics.

He said that Stauber wasn't standing again in Cazenove because they were friends and didn't want to stand against each other.

But he made no bones about the fact that he and Abraham Jacobson were the only two ultra-orthodox Jewish councillors standing in the ward and that they are both Lib Dems because Jewish people don't like standing against each other.

Even so, why hasn't Stauber, the Labour party's only ultra-orthodox Jewish Councillor, managed to find another seat? He certainly tried to find one. What could have stopped him standing for Labour in Stamford Hill?

A Labour source said that Stauber "has taken it very well and still wants to be involved" adding that he hoped that it would be possible to find a way for him back onto the council. He also said that the Labour Party had always been keen to have a representative from the ultra orthodox Jewish community.

Another interesting fact is that Ian Sharer's wife, Bella Sharer, is standing in Brownswood. In doing so (and she's stood in elections before) she will (I've been told) be breaking new ground for women in the ultra-orthodox Jewish community. According to her husband, the seat she is contesting this time is much more winnable.

Nominations for council elections closed on April 8. Here's the full list of candidates broken down into wards.

Changes in the Labour Party are more numerous but don't seem to be controversial. You can find the Labour ward candidates here.

LIB DEM buzz.

Ian Sharer, Matthew Coggins and the Labour Party source, were all aware that there has been a significant rise in Lib Dem support in the borough. Sharer didn't want to put a figure on the change but simply said he'd never seen anything like it.

He said he didn't quite believe that people who had voted Labour for twenty years would be able to make the change.

Labour said that the Lib Dem threat could prove a problem in wards where the Greens are already weak but in wards where Greens are strong, the shift to the Lib Dems could help Labour.

Apologies for not mentioning anything about Green candidates, I didn't have time. Interesting piece on Luke's Blog about recycling of Green councillors.

I'm also hoping to write up the hustings from last night at Hackney Community college - most interesting moment was the reaction to Meg Hillier's comment along the lines of: "If you went to Lithuania would you expect the Lithuanians to pay for you to learn their language?"

Dave vs Diane - Will she vote for her MP Meg?

In case you haven't seen the comment section of this (old - Jan 27) post on Hackney Lib Dem candidate, Dave Raval - Telegraph City Diary and Hackney South's Lib Dem candidate...

For a while the only comments were Diane's denial that she doesn't live in Hackney (and a correction - yes she does live in Hackney). But, Hackney South Lib Dem Candidate, Dave Raval, didn't mean she didn't live in Hackney:

Dave said: "I’ll respond to your points separately. Firstly, I said that neither Labour MP for Hackney live in the area they represent. This is true - it’s is a simple fact. This is what I wrote on my website, www.daveraval.com, in reply to Diane Abbott’s comment there. Clearly I have hit on something that the Labour MPs feel touchy about!

"Diane - Thanks for looking at my website! Much appreciated.

"You do indeed live in Hackney, you live in Hackney South and your MP is Meg Hillier. (Meg doesn't live in Hackney).

"In fact, I was planning to canvass you since (whilst I am sure publicly you have to categorically say that you intend to vote Labour, and I don't expect you to respond in any other way on this site), I suspect that actually there is a high chance that you don't support the current Labour leadership and it is a secret ballot after all...

"The point I am making is that, unlike many MPs, including Meg Hillier, I am dedicated to the area I am standing in and have proven it by moving here. Do I think that's the most important thing in politics - no I don't, but it does show commitment and I think people should be able to make up their own minds about this, armed with the facts".

"The other question you asked was – what car I drive!! That one is simple to answer – it is an ultra low carbon Mini, with a British flag on the roof. It’s low carbon because I care about the environment (I don’t drive it much in the first place) and I put the flag there as I’m fed up with the racist parties in this country claiming it for themselves. As a mixed-race Brit, the British flag is mine too!

"If you’re still curious, there’s a photo on www.daveraval.com, click on “Green Living” in the “About Dave” section (just above my photo). Still amazed that the car made it into the Daily Telegraph though...

Telegraph's City Diary and Hackney South Lib dem candidate

Just in case some people in Hackney haven't read the Telegraph's City Diary column today. Apparently the Lib Dem candidate for Hackney South has an odd car. The Telegraph website refers to a photo of this car which I couldn't see.

The Telegraph writer said: "I can't imagine the car will endear him to the good people of Hackney, but what do I know? If there are enough estates agents living in the borough it might just work."

With a picture being 'worth a thousand words' and the Telegraph story coming in at 80, it's hard to know how seriously to take Dave Raval's car problem.

On his website Dave says: "The Lib Dems are in second place. But most people in Hackney don't vote. If more did Labour could easily be beaten."

However, according to the Guardian (found via theyworkforyou.com) Meg Hillier's seat has been Labour since 1974 (and was Labour from 1950 as Shoreditch and Finsbury in 1966 Sir Oswald Mosely was one of the candidates).

In the past, the more people who have voted in the constituency, the larger the Labour majority. In the last General Election (2005) Labour voters were upset by the Iraq war but Labour still won reasonably comfortably.

However, both previous Labour MPs of Hackney South and Shoreditch, Brian Sedgemore and Ronald Brown, defected to the Lib Dems while still holding the seat.

Other interesting info on Dave's site includes: "The Liberal Democrats recently surveyed 8,000 people in Hackney and 62% of the respondents said that our council wasn’t doing enough for the environment." What else did 8000 people in Hackney say?

Last year Dave moved to Amhurst Road from Walthamstow in an effort to get to know the borough. He points out that neither Meg Hillier or Diane Abbott live in the borough (Which is wrong - as per comment below, Diane has lived in Hackney for 22 year. I didn't know that either)

Link to recent Dave Raval Hackney event - http://www.eastlondonlines.co.uk/2010/01/hackney-residents-meet-to-help-save-the-planet/