More voters than in Luxemburg and Malta

Just got back from a meeting of election agents at Wandsworth Town Hall. The only others present were the Green Party candidate Roy Vicary and a Labour Party agent. Apart from administrative details, we were informed that the electorate of the Merton & Wandsworth GLA constituency is 376,653, which is bigger than the electorate in the EU States Luxemburg and Malta. Unfortunately we won't be able to leaflet all these but our name will be on the ballot paper for those who go to vote.

On my way to the meeting I saw my first election poster. A joint one for Ken Livingstone for Mayor and Leonie Cooper for Merton & Wandsworth. I made sure that the occupants of the house know we're standing too. So now we know the name of our Labour opponent. Just checked. She's a Labour councillor who stood at the last GLA elections four years ago.

Our rivals

Well, this is our first foray into contesting elections in Wimbledon; but we didn't expect our opponents to actually be a Womble (OK, I'm just envious that his beard is bigger and more ludicrous than mine). There is an interesting quote from their mayoral candidate:

Jenny Jones, who is running as the Green candidate for mayor in May’s election, said she would ensure the London Assembly dealt only with banks that could demonstrate they were lending to London’s small businesses.

Would these be the same small businesses who fund the Green party's campaign material by paying for advertising space in their "free sheet"? Of course they would be. The Green Party will stand up for its corporate backers and fiercely defend the market system and capitalism (as long as it is small capitalism). Hopefully, when I get some time of work, I'll be able to get out down there and maybe fling a few leaflets around, putting the case for Socialism and ending the need for bank lending altogether.