Speaking on the ‘carnage’ following the local elections in Brent, Labour Cllr Mary Arnold acknowledges that Team Yellow worked hard for the victories they knotched up: “There is also the Teather factor - there’s a machinery that the Lib Dems have got for producing leaflets and campaigning, for bringing people in to canvass.” The Lib Dems did manage to distribute a lot of paper in Mapesbury and Queen’s Park - significantly more than teams Red and Blue....
“Perhaps I can drag the right hon. Gentleman away from the spat with the Conservative Front-Bench spokesman, fun though it is…” Well, those where her first words of the new parliament… Sarah returns to the House of Commons and continues her efforts at tackling the housing ‘crisis’ in Brent. Those of you who are regular readers of the BELD website will recall her speech of Oct last year in Westminster Hall on this topic....
Not awake at 415am? Shame as you missed Sarah’s victory speech! If you want to watch it you can thanks to the BBC. Paul Palmer of the Evening Standard, who was having terrible trouble with his laptop when trying to submit his story, writes about the Brent East result. He focuses on Yasmin loosing rather than Sarah winning. More later, when google news advises me of it!
I’ve posted over at Brent East Campaigning about yesterday, the election count and the result - take a peek. Looks like the BELDs need to get their website updated… no mention yet of Sarahs HOLD of Brent East. From the Lib Dem website election news ticker: 04.12 GAIN - Sarah Teather wins the Brent East seat she won at a by-election (technically a gain measured from 2001) with a swing of 30% and a majority of 2,700...
I’ve woken up and eaten - needed to do that before posting anything. NK and I left the count after Sarah Teather had been returned as the MP for Brent East, but not before posting to sarah teather is my MP. I’ve still got the ‘wild eyes’ I had yesterday, although that’s now from lack of sleep. This politics junkie had quite an Election Day. As I posted yesterday, I’d been out and about in Mapesbury and Willesden with June Thomas from Slate Magazine....