There’s a by-election in Princes Ward on 4 June. The ward
covers Kennington and Vauxhall, and Labour’s candidate is local
campaigner Mark Harrison. Mark’s long been a champion
for the community in the area. He’s got a long list of local
groups he’s part of, including the Friends of Vauxhall Spring
Gardens, the Ethelred Estate Tenants Management Organisation, and
the Kennington Oval and Vauxhall Community Forum. Mark’s long
list of local activity contrasts with the Lib Dem candidate who
quit all his community activities in the area earlier in the
year.
Mark has all the makings of a great community councillor, and
he’s been working very hard to earn people’s support in the
election. He launched a local campaign to reduce the big Lib
Dem-inspired rent rise that hit council tenants earlier in the
year. Like me, he went to see Housing Minister Margaret
Beckett to argue for Government help to reduce the rents on the
grounds that tenants shouldn’t be left to pay the bill for years of
Lib Dem financial incompetence. Mark’s worked very closely
with local MP Kate Hoey on the issue. I know Kate well, she’s
a very determined lady who stands up for her constituents, and
she’s backing Mark’s campaign.
I was knocking on doors today, talking to voters and discussing
their concerns. People are very interested in the local
issues and how local services and the local area can be
improved. They are also clearly very angry about the MPs
expenses scandal down the road at Westminster. It’s
horrifying to see so many MPs using a lax system to feather their
own nests, taking public money to fund moats, duck islands and the
like. Kate Hoey has come out of the whole mess very well –
she not only has one of the lowest expenses claims for any MP, but
she was also vindicated in a tussle with the Speaker of the House
of Commons when she criticised him for calling in the police over
the leaks rather than tackling the problem of inappropriate
expenses in the first place. The Speaker has since
resigned. People are right to be angry about the scandal, but
are glad that all our Lambeth MPs have not been
involved.
Back on the doorsteps, people are outraged at what’s gone on,
but they’re still more concerned about making their local area
better and I found a lot of support for Mark Harrison and his plans
to improve Kennington and Vauxhall.
Mark Harrison is Labour's candidate in the Princes Ward
by-election in Kennington and Vauxhall
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