Conservatives open voter registration for London Mayor

Today the Association relayed the information from CCHQ that all London registered voters can register for a ballot to vote for the Conservative candidate for London Mayor.

Will people choose Boris, Boff, Borwick or Lightfoot? They all have websites and quite a bit about them on ConservativeHome to help you make up your mind. When we hear about the planned Hustings, we shall of course inform you then too.

Don't worry if you a member of Islington Conservatives, your ballot should automatically be sent out to you.

Islington's Conservative GLA candidate

Alexander Ellis has been selected to be the London North East Assembly candidate (incorporating the boroughs of Islington, Hackney and Waltham Forest). Atiq Malik, Ellie Hopkins and David Vaiani were the runners up at the selection meeting in late June.

Alexander has lived and worked locally in London for the past fifteen years. He lives in Hackney, is a local school governor, Chairman of the school finance committee and is committed to try and improve the lot of the average hard pressed resident of London North East. Having been a constituency officer and activist in both Islington and Hackney he has knocked on thousands of doors over the years and knows the concerns of local residents. His main priority is to bring common sense to the governance of London and to ensure that a man like Livingstone does not represent London over the next four years in the run up to 2012.

Candidates for London North East GLA Selection

On the 24th June all Conservative Party members of the North East constituency will be entitled to vote for one of the following to be the Conservative Party Candidate:

• Alexander Ellis
• Ellie Hopkins
• Atiq Malik
• David Vaiani

The meeting will take place at the Walthamstowe Conservative Club and as mentioned previously it will be a Question Time style session. Shortly a Special General Meeting notice will be sent out to all qualifying members by post and email. If you are a member and do not recieve an invitation then please contact the Association.

£70M Price tag for Islington Businesses

The Islington Gazette just has a further story on the continuing developments in the Council Sell-Off of a large swathe of their commercial properties.

ISLINGTON Council's £45million portfolio of 222 shops, warehouses and charity offices is set to be sold for almost £70million to property investment company Structadene.

Many leaseholders are still hoping to buy their own premises - even though a number of the 159 traders who had hoped to purchase now need to raise hundreds of thousands more than they were expecting. Structadene has told the council how much it is offering for each property in the portfolio and, in order to buy, leaseholders need to price-match this figure.

As we discussed on our site back in February, the tenant businesses were originally looking to be offered the right to purchase. Now we need to ensure that as much as possible neither the Council is deprived of revenue nor that are our local businesses are adversely affected.

We need to ensure that the Right to Buy for the tenants is as transparent and a fair a process as possible. We also need to check that the Council does not squander the monies it raises, and we will do all we can to find out how this money is 'reinvested' into our Borough!

London North East GLA Selection

Last night the officers of the Conservative constituencies for the boroughs within the London North East GLA seat met to shortlist their candidate for the 2008 GLA election. The North East London constituency is comprised of Hackney, Islington and Waltham Forest.

Currently the seat is held by Labour's Jenette Arnold. In the 2004 Election, the Conservatives were narrowly third place. Labour received 26.8%, LibDems received 17.3% with the Conservative Candidate Andrew Boff receiving 16.7%. In contrast in the 2000 elections for the constituency, the LibDems had been 3.3% ahead of us, so we definately are closing the gap.

We had eight applicants to review for the selection yesterday, and short listed them down to four candidates. One of the four is a member of the Islington Association. We won't release the names until the unsuccessful applicants have been notified.

The next stage in the Selection is a Question Time format meeting at the Walthamstow Conservative Club later in June. The event will hopefully be chaired by a high profile Conservative MP. We will update you when we have all the details!

The Urban Fox

Whilst flicking through the Times today, I read today's column by Matthew Parris. IN part of his article he wrote about a bizarre situation regarding the dumping in the countryside of urban foxes. Surprisingly you can always identify a released urban fox, as it will run towards buildings instead of away from them.

This made me wonder what Islington Council does for fox management. I thought I would start with Islington Council's website and it says this:
The council's pest control section provides information and guidance on deterring foxes from your property, but doesn't provide treatments.

They recommend you contact a charity called the Fox Project. However if you look around on the Council website , you will find their guide to Urban Foxes, although I prefer their filename, PestFox. Apart from some helpful pointers on rubbish disposal, and contacting the Fox Project, the most helpful piece of advice is
- If you suspect foxes are ‘going to ground’ on your property, much can be done to discourage them from using a den by creating noise and disturbance in the vicinity

So basically make some noise or contact the Fox Project, and over in theie website, the advice is:
Some householders do not like foxes in their garden, so The Fox Project operates a specialist fox deterrence and advice service, which is both more effective and more humane than outmoded "pest control".

So it looks like we are stuck with our Urban Foxes in Islington, so let's just make sure she doesn't dont recieve any more votes.

Traffic pair go tow to tow

Now the London Paper has an article about the Islington Council / TfL parking bust up I mentioned on Tuesday:

Shoppers in Islington cheered as they witnessed a parking warden’s van being towed away by a clamper.

They watched on in delight as the Islington council van – which had stopped in a bus bay – was hoisted into the air by a TfL tow truck.

The incident took place on Upper Street, in Islington, north London. One witness said: “It was amusing. People were shouting ‘Go on my son’.”

But a TfL spokesman said: “The van actually broke down and was being recovered by the truck because both work out of the same depot.”

Islington Education

Walthamstow activist, John Moss, wrote a though provoking article about Conservative Party education policies for Conservative Home today. John works locally in Clerkenwell and began with an interesting Islington point from Boris that I had missed in all the coverage of grammar schools:

Boris Johnson points out that 50% of parents in Islington buy extra tuition for their children.

My role as Chairman in Islington Conservatives isn’t to provide or comment on Conservative Party policy on a national issue, however personally I do agree with Boris’s point that we need to address our children’s education, especially in locations like Islington.

As one of the Islington Conservative Future Officers said to me on Sunday, schools are one of the most vital influences on everyone and good schools can benefit a child beyond any other factor.

I am glad that this Nationwide debate about schooling is showing the measures the Conservative Party can and will introduce when next in office, including more setting and streaming
of pupils.

UPDATE:

Actually the whole of Boris's Islington related comment in his grammar schools article was as follows:

They pay for tutors, like the former Labour education minister Margaret Hodge, and it is largely thanks to her diabolical leadership of Islington that, in some schools in the borough, the number receiving expensive out-of-school tuition has risen to 50 per cent, and no one complains about the consequences for the 50 per cent of children whose parents cannot afford the tutor.

LibDems supporting our Post Offices?

Again Justin Hinchcliffe has spotted another local titbit

From today's Guardian Diary:

Hats off, finally, to the ever-alert Lib Dems, who yesterday protested against post office closures outside the post office at 238 Essex Road, Islington, currently threatened with closure because it and 221 other fine properties across the borough have been put up for sale by Islington's Lib Dem-controlled council. Brilliant.

Only today Bridget Fox (Islington LibDem PPC for Islington South & Finsbury) wrote on her website:

Meanwhile Liberal Democrats will continue to support local residents and fight to save Essex Road Post Office. On Monday Jo Swinson MP supported me as we launched our petition demanding the Post Office keep Essex Road open.

How can the Islington Lib Dems be supporting residents by selling off these properties, or does Bridget not speak with her former Council colleagues?

Islington Labour Leader

According to Justin Hinchcliffe in Tottenham, Islington Labour Council group leader, Catherine West is an early favourite up in the Hornsey & Wood Green seat for the Labour party.

Crowd cheers as council clampers' van is towed away from a bus lane

Seven hours today the Daily Mail posted a story on its website with this amusing headline. The article then continued:

The locals were jeering and shouting 'go on my son' and there was an interesting exchange between the Islington van driver and the TFL driver.

But things took a bizarre turn when, in revenge for impounding Islington Council's van, a council traffic warden slapped a parking ticket on the Transport for London (TfL) tow truck.

In an even more bizarre turn, the story is no longer on the Daily Mail's website.

It was only a few days ago that the Council claimed their Parking Attendents will apply Common Sense to parking fines....

HIP Hooray as No10 bins home packs

In Summer last year, Islington Conservatives published their opposition to the Brown-Blair govt's home information packs (HIP). As we stated then, HIPs could undermine the housing market and increase the cost of buying and selling a home

Today Ministers were today forced into a humiliating surrender over home information packs. In a deeply embarrassing move, they postponed the scheme until August.

As Michael Gove MP stated today:

Can I ask why, after being warned over a year ago that they were comprehensively mishandling this issue Ministers have seen fit to retreat only now – with eight days to go before Home Information Packs were due to be implemented?

Finally on this topic, a little cartoon from todays Daily Mail:

Association AGM

After a busy few weeks with ward Annual General Meetings, last night Islington Conservatives held their annual general meeting.

At a well attended meeting, new officers were elected as follows:
President: Boris Johnson MP
Chairman: Duncan Webster
Deputy Chairman (Membership): Patricia Napier
Deputy Chairman (Campaigning, South): Simon Toms
Deputy Chairman (Campaigning, North): Chris Skidmore
Vice Chairman (South): Kim Anderson
Vice Chairman (North): Paul Newman

After the formal review of the accounts, etc, members enjoyed a glass of wine and some friendly discussions.

As the new Chairman of Islington Conservatives, I want to thank Margaret Reese, the outgoing Chairman for her hard work and I look forward to working with all Islington Conservatives's members and supporters as well as with the residents of the borough.

Wine Tasting Photos

Dear all,

I have just put some photos from our recent wine tasting on the CF blog. Enjoy!

Carbon challenge

Deputy chairman of membership, Patricia Napier, has started reporting on how she is trying to meet the Carbon Challenge that is facing us all. She is blogging as part of the Quality of Life Challenge. If you want to read her posts please visit the Carbon Challenge.

Winetasting - Thursday 22nd February

Dear all,

Just a gentle reminder that the wine tasting is all set for Thursday evening and that a few more tickets are still available.

We are also very pleased to announce that Richard Merrin of Holborn and St Pancras Conservatives, who is a local businessman and was the party candidate in last year's Kentish Town Ward by-election, will speak for a few minutes.

Please email us at cf@islingtonconservatives.com to let us know if you would like to attend.

Medicine House Closure

Islington PCT has decided to close the Medicine House Practice on Seven Sisters Road after the death of Dr. Mrigendra Nandi , the Practice's only GP. The surgery treats about 2,000 patients, many from whom are from the Andover Estate which was recently visited by Ann Widdecombe MP.

This has resulted in 5 staff losing their jobs, and residents having to look for new GPs after Dr. Nandi had served the area for over 20 years. Islington PCT explained that nearby doctors would try to accomodate patients who fell into their catchment areas, and that it was not possible to find a doctor quick enough to avoid having to close the surgery.

The Conservative Party has been backing a national campaign to underline our support for the staff of our NHS and the patients they serve. We in Islington took to the streets in October as a part of this effort.

What has happened with the Medicine House Practice is a chilling example of the job losses and inadequate planning that have come with Mr. Brown's NHS cuts. Have you been affected by the closure?

Islington Council Sell Off

As previosuly mentioned on here and our main website, Islington Council are selling off large swathes of business premises. The Islington Gazette has further information on the sale, including the list of included properties.

Local traders on the whole agreed with Islington Conservative Party's policy on this very important issue: of allowing the traders the Right to Buy.

David Scotcher, of David Scotcher Interiors in Upper Street, said: "We haven't got a problem with the council selling off as long as we get the option to buy in a fair way. We've been here more than 20 years."

George Hussein, who has three businesses in Central Street said: "Small businesses like this take a lot of dedication and are the backbone of the community."

I was most impressed by the fact that Islington's Labour councillors will call for traders to be offered first-refusal on their properties. I am now waiting for Islington Labour councillors to call for all residents in Islington council properties to be offered the right to buy their own properties as well, although seeing the way HfI has managed the exisiting Islington leaseholders, you would perhaps want them to buy the freehold as well!

Definition of the day: Socialism

Yesterday I met a French client at my work and as we ended up discussing the French Presidential election, he told me the correct definition of a Socialist:

Socialist (noun) - An individual who likes poor people so much, that he tries his hardest to make more people poor.

Islington Conservative Blogger breaks story

On the 4th Feb, local Conservative Paul Newman wrote about about Islington Council hiring African-Caribbean Men in a comment on his blog: No Blacks Allowed.....(?).

Then Arthurian Legend picked it up and asked Is you bein' racialist?

Yesterday the Islington Gazette has this article on their website about the situation:

A JOB advert on Islington Council's website asking for 40 Afro-Caribbean men to become teaching assistants has been branded a disgrace by a top local Tory.

Paul Newman, vice-chairman (north) of Islington Conservatives, says the advert for the roles in Islington's Ethnic Minority Achievement Service (EMAS) is insulting and could encourage support for right-wing parties such as the BNP.

He said: "Do we need divisive special treatment for newcomers? Absolutely not, there is already growing suspicion and mistrust. This will add to it.

"Black children and white children should be treated the same and so should their teachers. Simple."

If you have any local issues that you want to comment about on here, then please let us know.