Random Notes

Friday's South London Press -- which has a monopoly of local news in the area -- published an alleged list of candidates in the constituencies in the area it covers. Apparently, they are only 4 candidates (Labour, Tory, Liberal, Green) standing in Vauxhall. In fact, if you believed the South London Press you would think that there were only 4 parties and only 4 candidates in each of the constituencies mentioned. The printed media were only excluded from the "public service" obligation imposed on radio and TV of mentioning all the candidates in an election because they said they would do this on a voluntary basis. Well, the South London Press has not done this but has instead provided an untruthful and deliberately misleading information on the candidates standing in Vauxhall (and probably elsewhere too), deliberately because they have been informed at least three times that we were standing too.
A blue leaflet came through the letter box of our office at 52 Clapham High Street on Saturday (the "main parties" had suspended canvassing for the funeral of the Supreme Witch Doctor of Rome but not, it seems, for the re-marriage of Mr Charles Windsor) headed "Introducing Your Next MP". This is to be a certain Edward Heckels, described as the local Tory candidate. If he believes that he really is going to be the next MP for Vauxhall then he's either a fantasist or a liar. Boasting of being a governor of Clapham Manor Primary School, "Edward" (as we are invited to call him) is photograph shaking hands with "Shadow Chancellor Oliver Letwin" whose views on schools in Lambeth are well-known. As he said during the Tory Party Conference in 2003 about his kids' education: "In Lambeth where I live, I would give my right arm to send them to a fee-paying school. If necessary I would go out on the streets and beg rather than send them to a school next to where I live". "Edward", incidentally, has had to face Socialist opposition at the polls before since he was one of those standing against us in Clapham Town ward in the council elections a couple of years ago.