Posts

John Cryer MP’s Election Agent, Ian McKenzie, and the local Labour membership: the rift widens

October 23, 2017 John Cryer MP, the Labour Party in Waltham Forest

Reports emanating from Labour insiders reveal that John Cryer’s Election Agent, Ian McKenzie, has spectacularly alienated much of the local party membership, to the extent that some now see relations as irreparable. Mr McKenzie has served as Agent in all three elections since 2010, after Mr Cryer was parachuted into Leyton and Wanstead by his trade union Unite in a contentious selection process that saw no local candidates shortlisted. However, the one-time assistant to former Labour deputy leader John Prescott has courted controversy almost from the start. Thus, shortly after the 2010 contest, for example, the local party treasurer struggled to extract from him the expenses return necessary... »

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LBWF Leader Clare Coghill’s MIPIM muddle (2)

October 20, 2017 Cllr. Clare Coghill, Redevelopment

After this blog’s previous posts about Council Leader Clare Coghill’s 2016 and 2017 visits to Cannes for ‘real estate’s Glastonbury Festival’, the Marché International des Professionnels de l’Immobilier (MIPIM), various correspondents have written in requesting further details, particularly about the cost. It is worth noting that in her ‘registered gifts and hospitalities’ declarations, Cllr. Coghill lists the Cannes trips, but as of today provides little elaboration. However, LBWF’s response to a Freedom of Information inquiry (reproduced as received) reveals some interesting details about who paid for what: It is a pity that LBWF ignores the question of meals,... »

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Hather Ali, of ‘bed in a shed’ fame, to stand for Labour in Higham Hill (naturally) UPDATED

October 10, 2017 Cllr. Liaquat Ali, the Labour Party in Waltham Forest

News reaches this blog that the Labour Party has chosen Mr. Hather Ali as a candidate for Higham Hill in the forthcoming local elections. This is certainly very surprising, because a couple of years ago Mr. Ali – the nephew of longstanding Labour Cabinet member Liaquat Ali – was involved in a rather unsavoury but very public Residential Property Tribunal (RPT) case concerning a ‘bed in a shed’. The story is as follows. In 2002, members of Hather Ali’s close family, including his mother, purchased 305 Higham Hill Rd., and rented it out. However, when, in response to a complaint, LBWF officers later inspected the property, they found that an occupied extension to the back of the bu... »

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Cllr. Anna Mbachu, accusations of bullying, and an embarrassing Employment Tribunal verdict

September 29, 2017 Cllr. Anna Mbachu, the Labour Party in Waltham Forest

Anna Mbachu is Labour councillor for Grove Green ward, chair of the Health and Housing Scrutiny Committees, and Deputy Group Leader. Her current public profile is low-key. But in the past, she has certainly had her moments. Who after all can forget the fracas in her Mayoral year of 2009-10, when she acted in an ‘aggressive and threatening’ way towards her chauffer, Leroy Telfer, in front of numerous people at a Town Hall meeting, and as a result received a ticking off from the Council’s Standard’s Committee? Naturally, having suffered such an indignity, Ms Mbachu was contrite, and apologised. However, new evidence has emerged which suggests that, past expressions of remorse or not, she may n... »

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Local Labour heavyweight Richard Price denounces internal party shenanigans

September 28, 2017 Local government reform, the Labour Party in Waltham Forest

Eagle-eyed politicos have drawn my attention to a speech by local Labour heavyweight, Richard Price, at the party’s recent Brighton conference, which can be viewed here at I hour 51 minutes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfhTiwB0OQs It’s strong stuff, and Mr. Price is obviously intent on cementing his coveted position as ‘The Most Hated Man In Waltham Forest’ in the ‘By The Local Labour Hierarchy’ division. But, because of his undoubted expertise in such matters, what he says deserves to be taken seriously, and opens a window onto an astonishing range of shenanigans – shenanigans that no one who believes in open, democratic politics (wherever they ... »

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