Friday, April 14, 2006
Election hustings kick off
The local election in London kicked off this week with a grilling of candidates by the Lambeth Pensioners Forum. I spoke on behalf of Local Education Action by Parents (LEAP) - alongside all the main political parties and the smaller ones like the Greens.
It's really quite touching that 60-plus pensioners were keen to turn out on a Monday afternoon to hear us all asking for their votes. I was just asking them to give us one of their three votes if they care about education. There were a lot of nods of approval from older people who'd seen their own children and now grandchildren struggle to find a school place in Lambeth.
LEAP only needs to win a few seats on the council to possibly hold the balance of power. Currently the Conservatives help the Lib-Dems hold power with a combined 35 seats to Labour's 29. If we and other smaller parties took just a couple of seats each, the Lib Dems or Labour would need to have our support to run the council, giving us the chance to really make education a priority for the next four years.
Wouldn't it be amazing to turn round Lambeth schools' reputation as a sick joke after all these years?
Apologies to the Association of Waterloo Groups, whose hustings I wasn't able to make on Tuesday night. At short notice I wasn't able to get childcare for my nine month-old and 3-year-old. Please invite me to other meetings and I will do my utmost to get there.
It's really quite touching that 60-plus pensioners were keen to turn out on a Monday afternoon to hear us all asking for their votes. I was just asking them to give us one of their three votes if they care about education. There were a lot of nods of approval from older people who'd seen their own children and now grandchildren struggle to find a school place in Lambeth.
LEAP only needs to win a few seats on the council to possibly hold the balance of power. Currently the Conservatives help the Lib-Dems hold power with a combined 35 seats to Labour's 29. If we and other smaller parties took just a couple of seats each, the Lib Dems or Labour would need to have our support to run the council, giving us the chance to really make education a priority for the next four years.
Wouldn't it be amazing to turn round Lambeth schools' reputation as a sick joke after all these years?
Apologies to the Association of Waterloo Groups, whose hustings I wasn't able to make on Tuesday night. At short notice I wasn't able to get childcare for my nine month-old and 3-year-old. Please invite me to other meetings and I will do my utmost to get there.
