SimonTo be fair I am also hoping that Labour will be able to use its time in opposition, if that is what is to be, as a period for reflection and reappraisal.Although to some extent the events of last week can be put down to national factors such as the Clarke fiasco, there can be little doubt that Labour's appalling local mismanagement played a major role in the party's demise. Furthermore it will hopefully have been noted that it was in this part of the borough, where Labour's campaign team has played things in a particularly negative and dirty way, that some of the party's more able candidates fell. I cannot hide my particular satisfaction that the man who has in my view been the main architect of this nasty and counter-productive strategy was himself pipped to the post in a seemingly "safe" seat in Brentford - which he would almost certainly have held had he spent more time campaigning there and less interfering in events in Isleworth - whereas one of his colleagues who has always stressed his desire for a clean contest was elected to the council for the first time.It is my sincere hope that the party will regroup around people such as Matt and come back in four years time as an honest broker in local politics with a positive programme and a fresh attitude. This may not work to the benefit of Labour's electoral opponents, but it would be good for democracy and good for local community relations which have been damaged by Labour's current policy of trying to create fear and division for political gain. I say this all in hope rather than in expectation, but let's see if I can be proved wrong.
Phil Andrews ● 7012d