Forum Topic

Local Elections in May

Having fought the current administration for the last few years I decided in September last year to stand as an Independent in this years local elections - I live in Feltham and work in Brentford. I know from attending Planning meetings and other meetings across the Borough that there are a large number of people in every part of the Borough, that are as disillusioned as myself with how Hounslow Borough is being run . Therefore I set up the Hounslow Borough Independent Candidates Alliance to encourage and provide support to anyone else thinking of standing. At the moment we have a small amount of candidates in the Feltham area; anyone on here thinking or has already decided to stand as an Independent, we would love to work with you so we can support each other. See our Facebook group:https://www.facebook.com/groups/281983958966960/?ref=bookmarks or email hbica.chair@gmail.com for more information.

Ian Stewart ● 2752d9 Comments

I will be standing in the ward I live in - Feltham North. By posting here I am trying to encourage others to join me and the other Independents so we can make a real difference. The more that stand, the more that get elected, the bigger the influence we can have to look after our Communities.

Ian Stewart ● 2747d

Which ward are you standing in, Ian?

Susan Kelly ● 2748d

The ironic thing is Pat that national politics per se is not much of an issue in local affairs, in the sense that there is very little ideology involved in what they do.  You could not look at the local Labour Party, for example, and in all good sense think of them as a group of people united by any particular set of values.  They are a gang, who seek power for themselves for the sake of having power.  If you are in the gang they look after you, if you are outside of the gang they look upon you with suspicion and often with emnity.  That is the way it works.Unfortunately though the gangs involved are built around traditional political parties, and through force of habit most voters put their cross beside the name of the organisation they most associate with, without thinking very much about the opportunities they could create for themselves by doing things differently.It's a difficult mindset to shake people out of, but it isn't impossible and some have succeeded.

Phil Andrews ● 2751d

I really believe that national politics should not be an issue when electing Councillors.  Do we have any independents in Brentford?

Pat Kingham ● 2751d

It is long overdue for some form of non aligned independents to stand in this Borough.Hounslow has endured at least 30 years now of tit for tat party politics and it clearly does not work well.Good councillors of all parties have come and gone and yet a stream of hard core bullying, corrupt or inept , incompetent and plain egotists seem to rule the roost.Bad decisions, careless decisions and warped policies have not done much good and developers in particular have seen the chinks in the armour and seized upon it and have too much of an in with both elected and non elected officials.It would take a sizeable amount of independents to make a change or at least keep things in check.Personally I think far more radical reform is needed. This huge unwieldy Borough needs to be split into two at least in the way certain committees operate. Chairs must not vote. and party politics ought to be completely localised and not simply echo national politics.But it needs to be a strongly pragmatic stance and not on the trendy issues made near hysterical by social media and fake distorted news and statistics ( one of the only things Trump is actually correct about)But local politics can be nasty, really nasty and it would take a lot of really strong minded and able people as independents to remain steadfast if elected.It might be too late for this election, but local groups need to form, consolidate, and get a message across.  Plenty of people are unhappy, right across the Political gamut. Most don't vote.And that's why we get what we deserve.

Raymond Havelock ● 2751d

It's heartening to see that people around the borough are beginning to take a stand, but I hope those concerned will forgive me if I sound a constructive note of caution - not to put a dampener on their aspirations, but to try to encourage them to redouble their efforts.The fact is that under certain circumstances local Labour actually welcomes the intervention of independents and/or minority party candidates.  The reason for this is that Labour has a pretty efficient local machine which will have identified "its" voters by early on in the campaign and will have the resources to bring these out on polling day.  With 1000-1500 reasonably reliable votes under its belt in any given ward, the more widely spread the non-Labour voters are the easy it will be for Labour to win under our first-past-the-post system.This was why they pulled the stunt with the bogus "UKIP" candidates whom they put up in Isleworth in 2014, although in the event that at best made no difference to the outcome and at worst actually counted against them.However, there are two exceptions to this rule.  The first is if they fear that the independent or minority party candidate is so popular that there is a serious chance of him or her actually winning.  The second is if the candidate in question has established "Labour" credentials, which could result in them taking votes from Labour in greater number than from the opposition.  This was what happened when the former Labour council leader and mayor John Connelly fought as an independent, and won, in Hounslow Heath in 2006.Where these exceptions are concerned, Linda Green would of course tick both boxes.

Phil Andrews ● 2752d

Well said Vanessa, l will support an independent in my area in brentford,poor brentford needs all the help available to save it for the future generations, we have a lot of history that needs to be respected by the powers that rule us at the moment but l fear nothing will change in May.

Jean Harrison ● 2752d

I wish Ian and his campaign every success, if there are enough people who aren't happy then this could be a force for change. This lot we have are so arrogant, and dismissive and have told us lies over and over again, and been found out, we deserve better. Who could forget the Ninja wheelies saga, this dreadful recycling/refuse contract, the rubbish about having to put a school on a recreation ground in Brentford when a perfect site was available opposite, which now magically is O.K. for Hounslow to build unaffordable houses on? Here in Isleworth the public open space leased to mate of a councillor for her horses, and then denying all knowledge of that, only for an FOI request to show that up for the lie it was. And don't let's even mention Church St. This is not about them swanning around puffed up with their own importance - it is about representing people to the best of your ability and listening to what is being said, and accepting that as a councillor you don't always know what is best, and having the humility and sense to realise that.

Vanessa Smith ● 2752d

I was only a councillor for four years in Hounslow but found it extremely rewarding and also at times very frustratingI sincerely wish you and your colleagues the very best of luck but please be aware that the local Labour Group will try to crush and bully you at every opportunity as the elections get nearer

Paul Fisher ● 2752d