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Permalink Reply by Alan Sitkin on May 23, 2014 at 5:30

Deep thanks to the people of Bowes and Enfield for your confidence. Labour has increased its majority significantly both in our ward and borough-wide. It is a great privilege to serve and we will continue to work hard on residents' behalf for the next four years.

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Permalink Reply by Geoffrey Kemball-Cook on May 23, 2014 at 12:14

As a Green Party candidate standing in Bowes Ward I would like to congratulate Yasemin, Achilleas and Alan on their clear victory, and I look forward to helping them to improve the environment for all people living in our area. They are all very hard-working and willing to listen to ideas and suggestions, and it is always best to work together whenever we can.
The Green Party was and still is the originator of many ideas on our approach to living together in the future which have been adopted by the "big three" political parties: so supporting (and joining!) the Green Party is always an excellent way to ensure that pressure is brought to bear for positive ends, both locally and nationally.
Enfield Green Party has its own website at http://www.enfieldgreens.org.uk where you can learn more about local issues and the unique Green Party approach.
Congratulations again to our Labour councillors.

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Permalink Reply by Alan Sitkin on May 23, 2014 at 13:08

Thank you very much Geoff for your kind wishes. It was a pleasure meeting you the other day at Bowes Primary. You and Trevor are good guys and I very much look forward to working with you to improve the environment in Bowes. Our ward faces severe stresses, if only because of its proximity to a congested smoggy road or our already high population density. There is a lot of work to do and we will continue doing it. Something that is always more effective when we work together (e.g the de facto alliance between our parties in fighting for the Mini-Holland cycling programme, in the face of Tory opposition)

With regards to the politics, historically it's true that many (albeit far from most) of the ecological insights that must drive public policy in the 21st century were first formulated by people who might at the time have defined themselves as Green Party members. But that hasn't been the case for a long time, in the sense that many more people who share your conviction that the environment must be prioritised in everything we do - myself, for instance- come from other progressive political traditions. To that extent, the Greens have been a victim of their own success, and if the socialist/social-democrat parties of the world (Labour, Democrats, SPD, PS) were to evolve in the direction that I've always fought for, they would all be so environmentally-focused that there would be no need anymore for a Green Party and you guys would happily disband and join us in a huge progressive alliance. Much better than splitting the Left like we do far too often....

Enfield Green leaders - who are my friends - know these opinions and agree to the extent that they all say they'd love to join Labour if we were as environmentally focused as I want us to be. Clearly they don't think the battle is won yet but with the help of women and men of good faith we are getting there very quickly. There is a common ethos between our two parties - the need to share resources, the dedication to the welfare of the many, not the few - so this rapprochement should be easy. Basically I'm saying Geoff (and B&B friends), join Labour, a mass movement, to ensure from within that we are as green as we must be!

Enough politics. Again, thanks Geoff. Got something potential going with a green wall on the North Circular to shield Bowes School kids from smog. When the officers formulate it more precisely, will revert here to discuss with you and friends, make it as good as we can. Speak soon mate

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Permalink Reply by Clare Bull on May 25, 2014 at 12:41

Joanna, Ali and I wanted to thank you all very much for your support. We are very pleased to be representing Bounds Green as Labour Councillors and hope to meet many more of you over the coming months and years. We will share details of how to get in touch in the next few days. 

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Permalink Reply by John Mellor on May 27, 2014 at 16:29

So once the dust has settled we can see that both Enfield and Haringey have increased Labour majorities. The Lib Dems were all but wiped out in Haringey - and with a barely visible campaign in Enfield. The UKIP threat (the main item of almost every news broadcast since Thursday) hardly troubled the counting teams locally.

This is what the political map of Haringey looks like now: (click for a ward by ward breakdown) but in summary ... "from Bounds Green in the North to Stroud Green in the South an Iron Curtain has desecnded across the borough of Haringey" to paraphase a former politician with both Liberal and Tory connections. It's no suprise that the Lib Dems were "given a kicking" in Haringey in line with national performance ... but I hope they learn that the negative, critical and carping complaints about Haringey have actually failed miserably.

Voters will never support a party which, week-in-week-out moans about what a terrible place it is, whilst seeking to represent it with the support of the people who live there.

Lynne Featherstone MP looks likely to lose her seat at the General Election next year - and quietly the Labour Campaign in Enfield has ammassed over half the popular vote - David Burrowes too may be be in line at the Job Centre next May ... He'd find out what life has been like for many of his constituents over the last four years!

Yet what concerns me with the large representations of a single party in each of our local boroughs is the diminshed role that debate, consultation and scrutiny could bring to our local democracy. After several years of austerity in our town halls the number of expert officers has been dramatically reduced; meaning that political willpower and ideology is likely to have a stronger influence than specialist professional opinion and reasoned debate.Democracy shoul be much more than a cross on a ballot paper once every four or five years! Let's see what the next cycle brings.

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