Weekly Update From Councillor Guy Lambert

A post-election prediction of drunkenness

It’s been a very busy week for me but all a bit repetitive when I bend my already no doubt somewhat bent mind to the task of a weekly update.

I’m sure people will be riveted with an account of such and such a day we were up such and such a street knocking on doors but sorry, I’m not going to grant you that privilege.
I’ve actually spent much of the week in the Labour Party office. I may have already mentioned that Theresa May, during that all too brief Strong and Stable phase, obviously spied on the plans for building work by the Brentford and Isleworth Labour Party and timed the election so that the campaign would perfectly coincide with the advent of pickaxes, concrete mixers, angle grinders, builders’ bottom and those other features of the construction industry which contribute richly to political activities such as running a phone bank and sealing envelopes where the air is filled with dust and grit. Conspiracy theorists will suggest she had a quiet word with BT to ensure that our broadband was taken down and our internet phone system with it during the first crucial 10 days of the campaign (it’s not exactly lightning fast even now) but obviously I discount that.

Theresa obviously had a change of heart anyway, by sending out a manifesto which seems to have been directly aimed at losing votes and then determinedly demonstrating her softer side also known as Weak and Wobbly by U-turning over everything and being ‘frit’ (to coin a phrase) to engage in debates.

Anyway, our door knocking has been extremely heartening, with Ruth’s virtues as a person and as an MP, her impeccable local connections and commitment, her independent spirit and her sheer hard work being a very easy sell on the doorstep even to those who are not natural Labour supporters. I imagine Mary Macleod is a much harder sell for our poor Tory friends who must be tearing out what’s left of their hair. Still, I suppose they want to demonstrate their commitment to recycling, but would you buy a used MP from Boris Johnson? They’re making a good show of recycling policies as well, such as the cap on energy prices which would (apparently) have been a catastrophe when Ed Miliband thought it up and put it in the last Labour manifesto but will now lead us to the land of milk and honey (apparently).

Councillor business is taking something of a back seat at the moment, partly because many meetings are not happening during the campaign and the period of ‘purdah’ where announcements are much restricted. I’m trying to keep up with emails and casework, however, and of course door knocking brings new concerns to light always, from CCTV issues on the Clayponds estate to over-bushy trees in Windmill Road.

A small highlight from my week: I am not accustomed to spending my time with Peers of the Realm but I have rubbed shoulders with 3 of them in the last few days, and it’s been quite an eye-opener. First of all I was awaiting a canvassing session in the Brentford towers. When the team assembled there was an elderly chap who identified himself as Fred Bloggs (actually he used his real name but I don’t want to). Bloggs is an unusual name so I could quickly identify him as Labour peer Lord Bloggs, a very long-serving and respected parliamentarian who is still pounding the streets for Labour in his mid-eighties, and humble as they come. Secondly, there was a lady quietly doing data entry in the office. We didn’t speak much and after she left I asked someone who it was. “Oh, that was Baroness Briggs, a Labour Peer”. This one was a youngster, barely over eighty. Finally, one of the people manning the phones asked me if I knew Lord Sniggs. I told them I didn’t and they said “that’s odd, because he seems to know you and wants you to call”.   Good old Wikipedia to the rescue and I recognise a face of somebody called Mike Sniggs (not really) who had joined us for a canvass session but who I never realised was a Peer.

That’s enough for now as I must go back to the Labour Party office (and clear a bit more councillor email in passing). Next week’s edition is due on Polling Day when I might be a mite busy from 5am until about 4am the next day when we get the result. I may get a moment to do an update on Wednesday but don’t be surprised if the thing is delayed until the weekend due to an outbreak of drunkenness, hopefully of the celebratory sort, but perhaps of the sorrow-drowning variety (or a bit of both, as in 2015)

They're improving the bus shelters in Brentford :-) pic.twitter.com/pK7hsS7BwP

— Guy Lambert (@GuyLambert) May 31, 2017

Guy Lambert

June 7, 2017