Where we are standing

The three wards we are contesting are Junction ward in Islington, Barnes ward in Richmond, and Borough & Bankside ward in Southwark. The candidates are, respectively, Bill Martin, Adam Buick and Kevin Parkin.

Nominations have to be in by noon next Friday, 6 April, and members of the branches running the campaigns (North, West and South London) are in the process of gathering the 10 signatures of those on the electoral register required to stand.

Nomination accepted

The nomination papers for our candidate, Adam Buick, were handed in at Guildford Borough Council offices this afternoon and accepted. So we're on the ballot paper, with our emblem.

The artwork for the manifesto, with the same wording as the one for the 2014 Euroelections when we contested the South East Region, has arrived. We only need to change the colour from blue to orange.

Another letter

In today's Richmond and Twickenham Times under their heading of "We Own it"

George Galloway (RTT, April 8) is right to pick up on Sadiq Khan's promise to be "the most pro-business Mayor ever". This shows that Labour, even under Corbyn, still wants to be seen as better managers of the capitalist system than the Tories. But capitalism can never be run for the benefit of those who, in Galloway's words, "work for businesses". This is why it needs to be replaced by a system based on common ownership and democratic control not production by profit-seeking businesses.
Adam Buick, Socialist Party candidate GLA South West constituency

A letter on housing

Letter from our candidate in South West published as the main one in this week's issue of the Surrey Comet under their headline of "Proof that capitalist system is flawed":

Green Party mayor candidate Sian Berry has a point (Surrey Comet, April 1) when she says that the present model for providing so-called affordable housing, as housing at a rent or price below the going rate, isn't working as it is based on signing "big deals with developers".

These deals have to allow the property developers to make a profit but the more below-market-rate housing the mayor requires them to provide in any project the less their profit. So there are limits as to how far they can be pushed.

If they aren't allow to make enough profit they will just walk away.

Not enough profit, no production. That's the way the capitalist system works and why it should be replaced by a society based on common ownership and democratic control, which will allow production, including of houses, for use instead of for profit.

ADAM BUICK, Socialist Party candidate GLA South West constituency.

News from the South West

Met a Green Party leaflet distributer when I went to buy my newspaper this morning. It promised something which neither the Mayor nor the Greater London Authority has the legal power to do: "cap rent rises". This would require national legislation and in any event would be like King Canute trying to stop the rising tide.

The local paper, the Richmond and Twickenham Times, has a letter from our candidate in South West London, not directly about socialism just pointing out an example of the hypocrisy of the Tory candidate for Mayor:

In the referendum on the Alternative Vote Zac Goldsmith campaigned to retain the existing first-past-the-post system as the fairest. The mayor of London is elected by a variant of AV. So, if Sadiq Khan finishes top, will Goldsmith congratulate him on being first past the post and renounce taking into account the second preference votes from Liberals and Greens that his leaflets dropping through our letter boxes are so obviously courting?

We've had a phone call from a subscriber/sympathiser from Leatherhead offering to help out. All she has to do is drive 5 miles and cross the Surrey/Greater London border but the nearest place is the village of Malden Rushett which could be in Surrey and is probably also full of Tories. In fact it's in the Green Belt and surrounded by farmland (and horseyculture), not typical outer London let alone inner London.

South West constituency: Nomination accepted

The nomination papers and election deposit for our candidate in the South West constituency (Hounslow, Kingston, Richmond), Adam Buick, were handed in and accepted this morning at Hounslow Civic Centre.

This means that we will be on the ballot paper. There are 432,000 electors in the constituency. If it's the same as last time only about 40% will turn out to vote, but every elector there and in fact everywhere in London will receive a booklet with the manifestos of the candidates for mayor but also a list of all those standing for the Greater London Assembly. So even some of those who won't be bothering to vote will still be able to know we're standing.

As we arrived in Hounslow early we distributed a few of the election leaflets. A bit premature but we did see some evidence of other political activity -- a glossy leaflet from the Stay in the EU campaign headed "More Jobs. Lower Prices. Your family is better off with Britain in Europe". Rather misleading as more probably staying in will make no difference either to jobs or prices. We also spotted a sticker on a lamppost saying "Refugees, Fuck Off Back Home". So UKIP will be able to count on at least one vote here.

Nominations for Lambeth accepted

The nominations for our 3 candidates standing in Lambeth were handed in at Lambeth Town Hall at 12.30 this morning and have been accepted. They were for:

Oliver Bond (Clapham Town ward)
Adam Buick (Larkhall ward)
Danny Lambert (Ferndale ward)

We won't know for definite who the other candidates are until nominations close at 4pm on Thursday 24 April, but it is already fairly certain that Labour, the LibDems, Tories, Greens, UKIP and (except in Clapham Town)TUSC will be standing. It remains to be seen if there will be any other parties (the English Democrats have stood in Lambeth before) or Independents.