Well I can’t pretend I wasn’t disappointed with the result. I didn’t get a chance to help in person but I did make some phone calls and it was encouraging. More so than the newspaper would have had us think.

Some had asked “are the Liberal Democrats broken” well to that question – the by election results in Oldham East & Saddleworth clearly shows the Lib Dems are NOT broken.
The Lib Dem vote seems to have held up very well but more people voted Labour – congratulations to Debbie Abraham the Labour candidate who one.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12187965 

As I’ve said I had limited involvement in this campaign. We didn’t have the 500 people Labour bused in on the preceding polling day Saturday for example. What’s really sad is how many people there didn’t vote. They told me politicians are all the same, etc, etc. The damage that the likes of Woolas and Illsey have done to politics should’nt be underestimated.

I was also stunned how many openly told me they would be voting BNP. The results demonstrate this. Another fall out of the dirty politics these voters have witnessed first hand.

Labour took over Southwark Council earlier this year in May.

Since that time 7 of their top councillors have failed to declare their interests correctly. In times of huge understandable concern over parliamentary sleaze this is unforgivable. One of them appears to have completed their declarations two weeks ago but the other 6 still haven’t. This is despite numerous requests from officers over the last eight months as declaring all your interests within 28 days of being elected or a change in circumstances is a legal requirement under Part 3 section 17 of the Local Government Act of 2000. This is reiterated within the Southwark Council Code of Conduct which clearly they are in breach of.

For clarity and to spell it out for my delinquent Labour colleagues.

Not making any declaration: Cllr Abdul Mohamed (Cabinet member for Equalities and Community Engagement).

Section 4 of their declarations failing to state they are members of the Labour Party: Cllr Barrie Hargrove (Cabinet member for Environment), Cllr Althea Smith (Chair of the council Planning Committee), Cllr Ian Wingfield (Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet member for Housing Management).

Section 7 failing to state who financially has supported their election campaigning: Cllr Catherine McDonald (Cabinet member for ).

Not stating where they work from as other barristers do/have – Southwark buys in a lot of professional legal and barrister support – Cllr Peter John (Leader of the Council).

I’m not sure they get how angry residents are over sleaze. Failing to declare all your interests is at best lazy and at worst looks positively sleazy and brings all councillors in disrepute.

Southwark Council has made an attempt to get people involved. At each of the 8 Community Councils within Southwark an hour has been dedicated to people with post its giving ideas for increases and decreases in expenditure. Good start. What is letting this down hugely is the lack of any real online way of doing this.

One great online budget consultation is Redbridge Boroufg Council www.redbridge.gov.uk/conversation.

This has been offered free to every local council. Sadly this has not been adopted by Sotuhwark. The best Southwark can do is an email generated form with two cells in it.

The Yes to Fairer Votes website was launched on Guy Fawkes night – www.yestofairervotes.org . How apt – a yes vote would really put a rocket up the system for real change to make our democracy more democratic.

The campaign is gaining momentum with 5o launch events held, regional organisers in place, and meetings to get the campaign held locally.

Do you want a fairer voting system where everyone’s votes count?

Southwark Labour party have decided to sell the boroughs silver – the three town halls. Lovely old seats of local democracy.

Apparently officers have told them it will cost £25M to modernise them. My experience of Southwark Town Hall is that its an ok office that I’ve happily worked from. I don’t get the need for £25M. Officers told Lib Dems three years ago this sum and for the last three years they’ve been used without a problem.

The Lib Dems were clear that the Tooley Street back office centre was exactly that. Labour seem rather keen on basing everything there even the democratic meetings. I don’t hold with the suggestion this is because so many Labour councillors such as Peter John live along the Thames river in posh blocks and traipsing down to Peckham Road was a chore too much for them.

Some the of the suggestions are idiotic. Like moving the Bermondsey One Stop Shop to Camberwell. No one from Bermondsey is going to travel down to Camberwell. Or holding Southwark meetings in Brixton Town hall – no residents from Southwark will go to Brixton. Our Lib Dem manifesto was clear every area needs it own local one stop shop and all three historic town halls are needed as local civic centres.

What doesn’t help is the antediluvian working practices – no voice or video conferences.

Weirdly such a big decision wasn’t announced at council assembly but to a newspaper.  The irony of Labour running a ‘demopcracy commission’ focusing on council assembly when they then go and sell the council chamber isn’t lost on many. So much for Labours idea of what local democracy means in practice.

I was saddened to read that Labour councillor Keadean Rhodean has again been convicted for benefit fraud.

Apparently she’ll be back in court in November for re sentencing.

She intends to appeal but her grounds sound shaky “I was a struggling student, battling serious health issues”.

What I felt was even more shocking was that she is reported as stating that senior Southwark Labour people knew she had this court case pending but told her not to worry and she’s then quoted as saying “They told me not to worry. They said it would be okay and that I should contuine to put myself forward becasue they had few black candidates and no young, black women candidates” she then is quoted as saying “I would not have continued if they had not encouraged me to do so”.

Another example of Southwark Labour being willing to do anything to get elected.