Forum Topic

Hanworth Park by-election result

I posted the following a few moments ago and it disappeared.  Anyway, here are the results of today's Hanworth Park by-election:Paul JABBAL (Conservative) - 1054 (41.11%)Colin ELLAR (Labour)       -  729 (28.43%)Simon MARTIN (Lib Dem)     -  507 (19.77%)Vanessa SMITH (HIA)        -  201 ( 7.84%)Anthony AGIUS (Green)      -   73 ( 2.85%)I would like to congratulate Councillor Jabbal on a fine victory and look forward to working with him for hopefully the next three years.

Phil Andrews ● 6588d32 Comments

Totally agree with you there Conel, the thing is we are now paying him a working wage to winge on here all day long no doubt he will be telling us what value for money that is. (SIC)

Dave Hughes ● 6554d

Ever the gentleman I see - David. What an advert for Cam's Tory Toffs!

Vanessa Smith ● 6554d

Absolute rot, your problem is that you just don't like being being honest.  Phil's past is as creepy as that of George Galloway.  In fact Phil is plainly so obsessed with Labour bashing and doing little else that I suspect he should be referred to as Hounslows very own Galloway.Perhaps we'll not see Phil licking imaginary milk out of the hands of a throaty Rula Lenska.  But we've seen him lay down and let the Tories ride rough-shod over us with cuts that will harm this borough's standing and render us the poor man of local services in West London.Phil's record isn't great in my view, you may find him acceptable. I do not.  I have higher expectations of those who run my authority than you.

Conal Stewart ● 6554d

What a vulgar woman Vanessa Smith appears to be ! I am surpriseed that she was ever a councillor.No wonder the electorate has rejected her both in Isleworth and Hanworth.

David Giles ● 6577d

Sorry - I feel so sick - I've just got to go and find a bucket, yuk, yuk, yuk.

Vanessa Smith ● 6579d

"".....and Phil Andrews.""ConalFollowing the contributions that Phil Andrews has made to this Forum over the years..and watching him perform at the Civic Centre..I just cannot agreed with your opinion.It is perhaps that your pugnacious style of debate fails to win  when you climb into the boxing ring with fellow citizens such as he.I sat outside the Mayors' Office with Phil once..and I was very surprised at the number of old Labour Councillors at that time..who come a long the corridor and stopped to say hello to him in a polite way...and engaged in light chatter.  Those Labour Councillors appeared to me to show him great respect.Likewise, the webcam broadcast from the Civic Centre show Phil to be respected by Conservatives for the quality of work he undertakes. Lastly, I've been present when Lib Dem Councillors.. including the current mayor..have stopped to speak with Phil in a most friendly and respectful way.Cllr Phil Andrews seems to be a steely and hard working person with integrity and much ability..who manages to remain calm when the hecklers arrive on the scene.Conal: your flaying words fail to score any points in my book. Your perceptions seem wayward.

Jim Lawes ● 6580d

..and Phil Andrews.

Conal Stewart ● 6580d

Erm.. they picked Tony. A man's who'e ego is only surpassed by Victoria Beckham, Alastair Campbell, and Simon Cowell.

Conal Stewart ● 6580d

Campaign? what campaign? The man was a chancer who picked the wrong side in the mistaken belief there was going to be a Tory comeback, if the boot had been on the other foot he could just as easily decided to back a horse of a different colour. Do these people really think the elctorate are that stupid?

Vanessa Smith ● 6580d

Well said Vanessa. Well said.

Conal Stewart ● 6581d

David, what went wrong with the Tony Lit campaign?

John Connelly ● 6581d

Do try to pay attention - not gutted at all, I found the atmosphere at the count pretty poisonous thanks to the comments of some of your fellow travellers about other candidates. So the prospct of having to spend anymore time in that appalled me. Try reading the previous posts and you may just understand why the H.I.A. decided to put up a candidate, that is if you can remove your head from your rear long enough.

Vanessa Smith ● 6581d

I think that Vanessa Smith must be gutted by her poor performance but let's not dwell on that.Colin Ellar must be very disappointed also as it is the second time he has been rejecxted by the electorate in less than 2 years.The Lib Dems could have been expected to have done much better but their poor showing is understandable considering what a shambles Ming Campbell's party is in.What is more significant is that the Conservatives won the seat very convincingly even though the By Election was caused by the resignation of a Conservative councillor.There must now be a very good chance of the Conservatives winning Feltham and Heston at the next election.

David Giles ● 6582d

"I think I can do without being patronised thank-you"And there, just when I was going to nominate you for the "Patronised Saint Vanessa" of all she surveys"!

Account suspended ● 6582d

Thanks for the explanation Vanessa. However I reckon the leaflets probably went straight in the recycling. I know that's what I do when I get unsolicited political leaflets and other junk mail through my letter box. Still, you never know....

James de Vivenot ● 6583d

I think I can do without being patronised thank-you, my language - is not 'colourful'. I cannot imagine that people in this neck of the woods are very enthralled by the Hanworth Park by-election, which is old news now, and care even less.

Vanessa Smith ● 6583d

Vanessa,By who was it "generally accepted" that the leaflets put out by the HIA were "superior" to the others?

John Davies ● 6583d

If Cllr Ellars was such an unpopular candidate amongst his colleagues in the Labour Party ..one wonders why he was chosen to fight the vacant seat. Who did the choosing?It would be intersting to read some of the Election leaflets..and with Vanessa's colourful language in mind..her's might indeed be a collectors' item!Scan, upload, transfer to a hosting website..then post that leaflet here.. someone please!

Jim Lawes ● 6583d

There are so many issues with a Parliamentary election, when it is called, who the candidate will be, how popular (or not) is the existing administration, how many people use their vote, the list is pretty endless. I really think calling the Tory win last week 'spectacular' was over-egging and then some! With the Labour party picking an extremely unpopular candidate, even among their own members, it really was a no brainer - hardly 'spectacular' in anyone's language

Vanessa Smith ● 6583d

I think what I was meaning was that although people may well have taken on board the issues contained in our leaflets, they may then have also thought on and wondered if a vote for an Independent as opposed to voting for the Tories who held the seat was a waste, and anyway Harley Buckner was only on the council for a year, so let's give them another chance. Who knows? It's all speculation, it is also possible a split in the votes given another scenario could have decided the outcome - clearly this time a straight 3 party slate would have come out the same, but how would we have felt if we hadn't had a go and the poor people of Hanworth Park had got lumbered with Ellar again?. You pays your money you takes your choice.

Vanessa Smith ● 6584d

You're right, Vanessa, I admit that I still do not get it and I probably never will...

James de Vivenot ● 6584d

I'd be very surprised if Feltham falls to the Tories even though they hold a number of Council seats in the area.Brentford & Isleworth who knows.

Neil Chippendale ● 6584d

Again you are missing the point - in this case it made no difference, but it could so easily have done under other circumstances. No-one has any idea as to how the various leaflets influenced the way people voted, and it was generally accepted that those put out by H.I.A. were superior to most of the others.

Vanessa Smith ● 6584d

Well clearly only 201 of the electorate in Hanworth Park got "it" too....

James de Vivenot ● 6584d

And that is 'it'!

Vanessa Smith ● 6584d

Fot the 2 main parties there was a small swing from Tory to Labour. Labour's candidate was well known but not very popular with his own comrades, hence the trouble he had getting people out to work for him, and hence the fact that his personal vote actually fell compared to May 2006. A number of well known local Labour activists found something better to do on Thursday evening than help out in a by-election. In contrast, the relatively unknown Tory received a lot of support from his new council colleagues and was untarnished by reputation. Those who saw Vanessa's campaign material will be in no doubt of its primary purpose. For future reference, the Independent Alliance intends to contest any future by-election in which Labour puts up a candidate we regard as unsuitable for public office!

John Connelly ● 6584d

Vanessa, please could you enlighten us as to what the "it" you are referring to is. Thanks.

James de Vivenot ● 6584d

You really don't get it do you - none of you.

Vanessa Smith ● 6584d

Considering that the by-election was caused by the resignation of a Conservative councillor, this is a spectacular victory for the Conservatives. Councillor Paul Jabbal was elected with over 41% of the vote soundly beating the well- known and high profile Labour candidate, Collin Ellar, the former Leader of Hounslow Council, who only secured 28% of the votes cast.The Lib Dems did predictably badly trailing well behind Labour in third place.The Green Party once again failed to make an impression which is very understandable as it barely exists.Former Labour councillor Vanessa Smith also failed to make much of an impression.Maybe she should concentrate on winning a seat in Isleworth or Brentford ?Based on this result and the result of last year's council election, the 35 years of Labour dominance in Hounslow are coming to an end.It also appears likely that the Conservatives will win both parliamentary seats at the next General Election.

David Giles ● 6584d

Jim - there was actually a swing away from the Tories and Hounslow Independent Alliance.  See data and comments at:http://www.hounslowlibdems.org.uk/news/000286.htmlI do wish the new councillor every success in his role - for one thing I don't think the people of Hanworth Ward could face being drowned in leaflets again if another by-election occurred!Best, Andrew

Andrew Dakers ● 6584d

My understanding is that Mr. Buckner, who resigned, was very upset because he was very keen on getting the name of the Feltham Young Offenders Institution changed and had a campaign going on this. He felt that it somehow blighted Feltham's image, I believe he wanted the Conservative Group to support him in this, but the Leader, Peter Thompson refused to meet with him to discuss the issue. There was some support for the name change, but whether it was all there was to the resignation I certainly have no idea - perhaps someone else could fill in the gaps?It's usually the case that when a new name is given to something it takes forever for people to use it, as locally things tend to retain the name they have always gone by.

Vanessa Smith ● 6585d

Can nayone enlighten me as to why the Cllr resigned, was it,as I have been told, because he didn't agree with the current policies of the Tory/ICG grouping. If yes what policies was he against.

Neil Chippendale ● 6585d

A heartening result Phil..which will be well received in many quarters.There was an opportunity for the votes cast to indicate a sway  back to the left..but that didn't seem to happen.Watching the webcasts of various Council Meetings on the Civic Centre website..suggests that the current administration has some talent for the job in hand.

Jim Lawes ● 6586d