Heidi Alexander’s move to City Hall to trigger Lewisham by-election

Tis a shame she couldn’t have come to this decision in a manner which could have put her seat on the ballot last week.

I’m not sure they need an election in a seat with a 21,000 majority

It’s odd that the mayor of London can also be an MP but the deputy mayor cannot.

She was sitting next to Damien Egan and cllr Paul Bell on a panel entitled “Importance of Political Participation”.
I know nothing more about her than this. But sitting on a panel at the local mosque is not a bad thing and certainly doesn’t automatically make her an extremist.

That’s a straw man argument. No one accused her of being an extremist. And no one claimed sitting on a panel at a mosque was a bad thing.

Are Sheikh, Egan and Bell aware of Begg’s high court ruling I wonder?

It’s not a good look for local politicians to share platforms with extremists who promote religious violence.

You would need to ask the individuals themselves, I wouldn’t like to speak for them, although I think I know the answer.

We have previously discussed Begg on this forum. That thread has been deleted, I do not intend to repeat everything I said on a deleted thread, but I will say that many people I respect say that Begg is doing good things for community relations and integration. Beyond that I’m not prepared to have the same discussion we have already had.

It is probably worth noting that Sakina Sheikh is also a councillor for Perry Vale ward - elected last week.

It will certainly be interesting to see who gets selected by the Labour Party for this seat.

If we’re playing the logical fallacy game again I’ll counter with association fallacy, a gambit in wide use here.

But really. It’s a poor game when there’s an effort to tarnish someone’s reputation by association to the UK’s 2011 Eurovision entry.

Like Michael you’re making a straw man argument.

No one is using the association fallacy (no one is claiming that these Labour politicians are extremists because they shared a platform with an extremist).

Instead, the problem with them doing so is two-fold:

• It legitimises Begg as a local figure of influence and a representative of his faith community. As the high court noted, Begg was “something of a ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ character” who presented one face to the local community and another “to receptive Muslim audiences on chosen occasions” when “he has shed the cloak of respectability and revealed the horns of extremism”.

• It brings disrepute to the Labour Party, similarly to Corbyn’s “our friends in Hezbollah and Hamas” statement.

I find it particularly distasteful that you’re posting a Guido Fawkes article on a supposedly balanced website Chris. Hardly known for his neutrality is he?

This website is not a place where some media sources are “haram” and others “halal” I’m afraid.

Balance means listening to all viewpoints.

As you’ll see in this topic I also posted an article from the Guardian, which has entirely opposite biases to Guido Fawkes (and biases nonetheless).

You’re able to reply and refute any of the points made by the Guido or Guardian articles if you think they’re factually incorrect?

And the Guardian article?

No I’m not.

Yes they are. And I think I’ve seen a third gambit in play - Ignoratio Elenchi. So if this to become a discussion focused more on Shakeel Begg rather than a discussion on Heidi Alexander’s move or potential replacement then I have to agree with Michael. I’m not in mind to participate in a do-over.

On this matter you make a good point. I must get in the habit of posting articles by the Canary as it exhibits opposite biases to the Daily Telegraph which I often reference in this forum.

I can see one positive outcome of Heidi Alexander’s move to the Mayor’s office. Given her unique understanding of transport problems in Lewisham hopefully she can help see some improvements to the area.

The Guido does reference an article from the Red Roar though only in relation to Claudia Webbe. The same article provides a list of runners and riders for Heidi’s vacant seat. Guido’s list seems to replicate the Red Roar list in many ways () though perhaps unsurprisingly the Red Roar brings a different viewpoint. Interesting they are both consistent in their view on Claudia Webbe’s chances.

I’d like nothing more than to get back to the discussion of candidates and their merits, as opposed to handling yours and Michael’s comments on Shakeel Begg and your wrongful accusations of logical fallacies.

It seems that not all in Labour are happy with events

Other media sources are available.

Gender and racial discrimination is alive and well in the Labour Party it seems.

Sadly so but Momentum doesn’t care and it seems neither does their esteemed leader or most of the senior party members. I wonder when the scales will fall from the electorates eyes.

Majority in the Labour Party think this is a fair way of ensuring that our gender balance doesn’t go backwards. Had we had roughly 50% MPs women and proportionally same % of BAME as in our population, this positive discrimination would no longer be place.

I do find that selection process in bye-elections is at odds with our principles of local democracy and that in strong Labour areas, such as Lewisham East, local party is quite capable of finding quickly a great candidate with local links.

One name I have not seen on the list of contenders is Cllr Breda Dacres.

Another name that hasn’t appeared on the list yet is former councillor Hilton

ha ha ha
No chance

Another contender:

She’s withdrawn, according to The Telegraph:
“Labour candidate for Lewisham East by-election withdraws as it emerges she compared Israel-Palestine conflict to ‘Nazi persecution’”

Lib Dems select Lucy Salek for Lewisham East Parliamentary by-election

https://www.markpack.org.uk/154843/liberal-democrats-select-lucy-salek-for-lewisham-east-parliamentary-by-election/

Here’s Labour’s shortlist:

Ironic that Joe Dromey, son of Harriet Harman, was denied candidacy on the basis of Harman’s gender discrimination policies.

I’ve met Lucy, she is very good, local born and bred, pro Europe. Would make an excellent MP in my opinion.

Seriously uphill battle though.

Momentum are backing Sakina Sheikh:

Unite will be supporting Claudia Webbe:

Sakina Sheikh is tweeting her solidarity with Claudia Webbe after Guido reported that she had appeared on Russia Today and Press TV.

I see the identity politics are in full swing

If anyone criticises any of the candidates, the criticism is “racist”

This is nonsense. Candidates (or party leaders) making appearances on the state propaganda channels of Russia and Iran deserve scrutiny.

Another couple of candidates:

Green Party has selected Störm Poorun
https://lewisham.greenparty.org.uk/news/2017/05/03/störm-poorun/

UKIP have selected David Kurten, a candidate with an existing seat on the London Assembly.

Point of interest: @DavidKurtenAM is a member of the forum.

And two additional candidates:

The Monster Raving Loony Party will be represented by Howling Laud Hope
And Anne Marie Waters will by under the banner of “For Britain”. Previously Anne Marie Waters came second in the UKIP leadership election, David Kurten came third.

There’s some concern on Twitter that Kurten and Waters will split their vote.

…ruining any chance Howling Lord Hope had of coming in last place.

Without wishing to start a tedious debate on Brexit, it’s notable that the Labour front-runner for Lewisham East is, like Corbyn, pragmatic about it:

Conservative candidate for Lewisham East will be Ross Archer who recently stood as mayor of Lewisham and came in second place (13%) to Damien Egan in first choice votes.

The Women’s Equality Party candidate will be Mandu Reid.

I am told that the Lib Dems nationally will be putting a lot of effort into supporting Lucy Dalek. I guess she will be the go-to candidate for all you Remoaners.

I expect they are hoping to progress on the 4.4% result in 2017

Hi Chris,

At this stage I would not speculate who is the front runner in the Labour selection of Lewisham East Constituency. Only members who are eligible (in the constituency, fully paid up etc) who come to the selection meeting on time (as when the doors close no one else will be admitted) will have a vote. There are 4 people to chose from who will each have their time in the meeting.

And remember to bring some form of ID with them, presumably to reduce any possibility of voter fraud.
Don’t forget you also get a second preference - unlike the general electorate in this safe seat.

Brenda Dacres has withdrawn from the Labour selection process due to health reasons.

Sakina Sheikh has apparently been forced to withdraw. I wonder if it is still okay for her to be a Labour councillor or do we have an ‘opposition’ councillor now in Lewisham?

Eta: perhaps not:

I would love to be a fly on the wall in these internal Labour meetings. Momentum are really shaking up the party.

I think you can be a fly on the wall:
https://www.pscp.tv/w/1ZkJzVbOpoyJv

I’ve forgotten what happens next, does the winner of the all woman shortlist go on to marry Harry this afternoon?

The winner is Janet Daby

Will there be a local bye election for Janet Daby’s seat on the Council?

She doesn’t have to. Lots of Councillors work full time in addition to their Public role.

I think the question she will be considering is whether she could be Deputy Mayor and the MP at the same time.

I know it’s a silly thing to say, but she still has to win the election before she is an MP.

Absolutely,
One step at the time, Maja. There I was dreaming for a moment while my comrades are making sure that voters in Lewisham East come out to vote for Labour.

It would be easier to organise a by-election on the same day. Perhaps now is a good time to resign as a councillor.

Where does she stand on Brexit?

campaigning against a hard Brexit according to her tweet.

My pledges for Lewisham East (1) Campaign against hard Brexit (2) Tackle knife crime (3) Make the case for more affordable homes (4) Drive up school standards.

Sadly there are no policies here: What does “tackle knife crime” indicate exactly?

“The case” for “more affordable housing” does not need to be made, as everyone accepts it. We need policies and plans for achieving it.

The aspiration to “drive up school standards” sounds like something no-one would disagree with - is there some detail?

Apologies to the candidate if she has expounded detailed policies elsewhere that have not been reported here.

In fairness these are pledges not policies. I doubt twitter provides enough characters to describe these.

A.K.A sound bites.

Perhaps you’re right. UK politics has become nothing more than a news headline in the papers or the ten o’clock news. One day I hope our leadership will break the mold.

#brexitmeansbrexit
#strongandstable

Hmmm - a new and interesting development - and as far as I am aware the boundaries have not yet been revised for Lewisham East.

This morning in Bellingham ward we received the Women’s Equality Party election postcard for the 14 June poll.

Great pity we are not participants in this one.

I gave them a call to let them know - they seem nice people - and I am a great fan of co-founder Sandi Toksvig.

Full list of candidates can be found at https://www.lewisham.gov.uk/mayorandcouncil/elections/Pages/Lewisham-East-constituency-by-election-on-June-14-2018.aspx

Crikey. That’s a lot.

He sounds like a nice chap

Ladbrokes current odds for Lewisham East winner.

Some parties may be less pleased than others.

A more detailed look at the candidates, courtesy of the new Lewisham Ledger:

https://lewishamledger.tumblr.com/tagged/lewisham+east+byelection