Labour Voice, Milton ward, Autumn 2018

Labour Energy Forum, building an energy future that serves us all

https://labourenergy.org/

Labour Energy Forum promotes bold left visions for a clean, reindustrialised and democratised economy and energy system. We believe in a future that is desirable, hopeful and brave.

 

If you feel so inclined, sign this pledge

 https://labourenergy.org/pledge-2/

We support the divestment of local government pensions from fossil fuels, and reinvestment into local communities, in line with fiduciary duty.

Jennifer Beck for Victoria

Jennifer Beck has been selected to represent the Labour Party in next May's election in Victoria ward.

David Norman OBE is standing down and Jennifer will be a great replacement. Jennifer's hard work, honesty and integrity has been recognised by Victoria ward Labour members, and I trust and hope that she will be amply rewarded at the polls come the first Thursday in May.

Laurie Burton, no better choice for Blenheim Park ward

Re-elect Cheryl Nevin

Victoria Voice Winter 2018

Milton Voice Winter 2018 edition

St Luke's Voice Autumn 2017

Margaret Borton re-selected to contest Victoria ward

Cllr Margaret Borton has been re-selected to contest Victoria ward for Labour.

Margaret was first elected in 2006, and has represented Victoria ward ever since.

Margaret works for the Department of Work and Pensions. She is married with two children.

Cllr Borton sits on Development Control Committee, People Scrutiny Committee, Traffic and Parking Working Party, and Licensing Committee. She is a former deputy leader of the Labour Group.

Margaret said: “I am very pleased to have been selected as the Victoria candidate.”

She added: “It has been an honour to represent Victoria ward.”

We must remain in the Single Market

Labour is the party of work; it is in the name. We exist to give representation to working people, and this is not meant to be just an echo chamber. Labour exists to encourage job creation, to fight for good working conditions, and to look after those less than able to look after themselves.

In all that we do we must remember jobs - our support, those we really represent, need jobs. Ideally, more jobs than those seeking these jobs.

The big subject today is the European Union and our ongoing relationship after Brexit. Key is our access to the Single Market, and on this hangs the future of many jobs.

Whilst it is true that whatever the negotiations bring, going forward we will trade with Europe. However the nature of this trade could take any number of forms, and we must push for a form that gives us the best outcome in terms of jobs.

The Single Market has created the most powerful economic bloc in the world. This has led to prosperity right across the EU. Britain's divorce from the EU, and the attendant divorce from the economic success is most kindly described as a gamble. Those who value prosperity will be keen to limit this gamble, and this is best achieved by remaining in the Single Market.

Hardline Brexiteers see national integrity as above all other considerations. Yet, the biggest threat to our sovereignty will be economic weakness, and a perceived gain could turn into a serious loss, albeit unintentionally.

We must, for prosperity and for the future integrity of our nation, remain in the Single Market.

Bottoms on the green benches

In our imperfect electoral system it is not the number of votes that each party acquires that counts, it is the number of seats in Parliament. This figure shows the respective seats gained by the two main political parties at every General Election since World War Two.

The most obvious trend is that once the leading party, the Government, starts losing seats this trend continues until their defeat. This will not be welcome news for the current Prime Minister. However, Mrs May might console herself with the fact that whilst her party are likely to lose seats at the next General Election (based on the precedent of history), this does not necessarily mean that the next GE will witness a Labour victory.

Labour has fifty-five fewer MPs than the Conservatives at the moment, a gap that has been bridged before (1997 and 1964). It must be said, though, that it was Blair and Wilson, two electorally successful Labour leaders who achieved this feat. Corbyn has yet to prove himself a winner, and who knows when he will get his chance to do that. However, he will rightly welcome another chance to chip away at the Conservative led in the House of Commons, and next time may yet see him given the keys to number ten.

The biggest leads for Labour over the Conservatives occurred under Tony Blair, whose worst result still saw Labour with 157 more MPs than the Tories. Blair’s electoral achievements exceed all since WWII, not even Thatcher versus Foot came close to the drubbing inflicted by Blair on John Major.

Minority Governments have been quite resilient, and I am not expecting another General Election any time soon. My money is on 2021, but this is just a guess. With fewer by-elections these days I do not expect the whittling away of the Coalition’s majority, a phenomena that gave both John Major and James Callaghan some fraught moments towards the end of their respective premierships.

GE	Lab	Con		Lab - Con
5-Jul-1945	393	197		196
23-Feb-1950	315	298		17
25-Oct-1951	295	321		-26
26-May-1955	277	345		-68
8-Oct-1959	258	365		-107
15-Oct-1964	317	304		13
31-Mar-1966	364	253		111
18-Jun-1970	288	330		-42
28-Feb-1974	301	297		4
10-Oct-1974	319	277		42
3-May-1979	269	339		-70
9-Jun-1983	209	397		-188
11-Jun-1987	229	376		-147
9-Apr-1992	271	336		-65
1-May-1997	418	165		253
7-Jun-2001	413	166		247
5-May-2005	355	198		157
6-May-2010	258	306		-48
7-May-2015	232	330		-98
8-Jun-2017	262	317		-55