Our local by-election campaign in Islington
- This topic has 26 replies, 7 voices, and was last updated 1 day, 3 hours ago by
.
-
Posts
-
A by-election in the Junction ward of Islington council in London has been called for 28 November, caused by the promotion of a Labour Party careerist to a job with the Mayor of London.
This is the area round Archway in North London and a ward that we have contested on two previous occasions. We are standing there again in this election.
Unusually for a council by-election there are 7 candidates in all. Our opponents are the usual Labour, Green, LibDem and Tory plus an independent and a pro-Corbyn reformist.
It is likely to attract local media coverage as it is a ward that the Greens are hoping to win from Labour and the intervention of “Islington Independents”, a breakaway group from Labour formed by 4 councillors. The Independent candidate is also well-known in the borough.
ISLINGTON LBC; Junction (Lab resigned)
Candidates:
CAINES, Jackson
JONES, Rebecca (Liberal Democrat)
MARTIN, Bill (Socialist Party of Great Britain)
OSBORNE, Devon (Green)
POTTER, Brian Steve (Independent)
POTTS, James Christopher (Labour)
WILKIN, John (Conservative)2022: Lab 2111, 2004, 2001; Grn 761, 545, 507; Con 279, 252, 240; LD 240, 194, 182
Devon Osborne (Grn) stood in Tufnell Park in 2022 and John Wilkin (Con) in Holloway. Wilkin stood here on previous boundaries in 2018. Rebecca Jones (LD) was the candidate for Hackney North & Stoke Newington at the General Election and North East at the London Assembly elections this year. Bill Martin (Soc) stood in Clapham & Brixton Hill at the General and Barnet & Camden at the London Assembly elections and stood in this ward back in 2018 on previous boundaries.
Current Council: Lab 43; Islington Ind 4; Grn 3; 1 vacancy
Text of our election address:
Capitalism, the system of society we live in, can only be run in the interest of capitalists, the so-called 1 percent, who invest money for profit. Despite the politicians’ promises, it can never be made to work for us, the working class, whose income mainly comes from working for a wage or salary.
Capitalism is a profit-making system that can only work for the few who own not the many who work.
That’s why people’s needs are never met properly and why there are always problems over health care, housing, schools and public services. The politicians blame each other but profits coming before needs is not something any government can change. The Tories weren’t the problem. It was capitalism.
The Socialist Party says society can only be run in the interests of all when the majority working class comes together to bring the wealth of the world into common ownership. To do this, we need to organise politically, to transform the basis of our society, from ownership by the few and production for profit to common ownership by all and production to meet people’s needs.
If you agree with this, and want to let others know you agree, vote for BILL MARTIN the socialist candidate in the up-coming Junction Ward by-election.
Our election leaflet published here:
Here is the “Corbynist” candidate, Jackson Caines, expounding his policy on local housing:
More on him and his views here:
2000 leaflets arrived yesterday at Head Office in Clapham. Distribution will begin tomorrow at a street stall outside Archway tube station at 12.
More on the Corbynist candidate here:
https://www.islingtontribune.co.uk/article/independent-calls-for-council-shake-up
Some of us turned up to Archway station, and spent an hour and a half leafletting. There was some engagement from the public, one young woman (too young to vote) who said she was a member of the RCP took a leaflet. We also ran into someone who knew of the Party and was surprised to see us contesting (he wasn’t local).
There was no sign of the other parties, a pro-Palestine stall turned up later. We retired to a cafe, where they allowed us to leave some leaflets.
Corbyn endorses Jackson Caines. So he is now an official Corbynist candidate.
Yesterday 850 leaflets were distributed door to door in different parts of the ward.
The only evidence of other election activity were leaflets from Jackson Caines in one of the “social housing” estates. Labour can’t lose here – at the last council elections in 2022 some two-thirds of voters opted for them — so maybe other candidates aren’t putting much effort in to contesting.
Some 300 or so more leaflets were handed out yesterday afternoon outside Tufnell Park tube station and a nearby street.
A further 1000 had been delivered to our offices on Tuesday so we have plenty more as, for instance, for this rally to be addressed by Corbyn himself on Saturday:
https://jackson4junction.org/events
Incidentally, we were at the Tufnell Park Tavern at 6.30 yesterday but none of them turned up.
Another 600 or so leaflets distributed today, both outside Archway tube station and in streets throughout the ward. In fact, apart from those sent to local members to distribute near where they live, all the streets in the wards have now been covered. Only a part of one housing estate remains. There are now only about 300 left at Head Office which should be enough to do this next Saturday.
Much political activity outside Archway tube station and in Navigator Square (so named after the Irish navvies who built the railways in Victorian times – at one time North Islington had a large Irish population) this morning. The Corbynist candidate was there with 20 or so canvassers as was Jeremy Corbyn himself (who retired to the local station cafe when the others went canvassing). Also there were the Labour candidate and about a dozen Labour councillors. So of course were we.
We again came across both Corbynist and Labour canvassers as we were distributing leaflets door to door. We met Jackson Caines door-knocking in Despard Road. There is a pub at the end of the road called the Charlotte Despard, but this was not its original name nor was the road named after her. She was in the SDF, a suffragette, opponent the First World War, Sinn Feiner and, towards the end, Communist Party member. She knew Eleanor Marx.
Incidentally, Marx’s grave is only a short distance outside the ward.
No sign of any activity by the Greens, LibDems or Tories.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.