Pictured above are some RBKC Tories outside The Eagle after a rare canvassing event in Golborne on Saturday. We bet most of them needed Google Maps. Our Editor spotted Tony Devenish pacing up and down Ladbroke Grove – looking completely lost that morning – (someone needs to tell him that Golborne is not located between between St Helen’s and Notting Dale Wards – but oh well) .
They were obviously irked about Thursday’s blog about Felicity Buchan’s “Listening to North Kensington” event and some of them decided to venture into the safest Labour wards this time. Judging by some of the forced smiles of some of them in that picture, the event was not a huge success.
We heard about an encounter in Golborne Ward between a resident and Cllr Lloyd North The resident, evidently not a Conservative voter, was not pleased to see him there.
But Lloyd was persistent to the resident who wanted him off her doorstep: “I am your local councillor”
Well actually no, he is not. The resident’s local Councillors are Sina Lari, Abdullahi Nur and Mona Adam. Here is a helpful map with Golborne highlighted in red and Cllr North’s Campden Ward highlighted in blue:
We don’t know what appears worse; a councillor who doesn’t know if they are over a mile outside their local wardor not or a councillor who goes about pretending they represent other wards which aren’t theirs.
Anyhow, the resident asked Cllr North to get off her balcony and his apparent response was that was because it was a RBKC owned housing building, and he works for the Council that he was entitled to be there! Unbelievable.
So we suggest that some of the Tories brush up on their doorstep etiquette before they head off to North Kensington again – unless they wish to lose the last few remaining true blue voters they have there left. Look we don’t know if Cllr North just had a bad day or something but that was unacceptable (here’s some advice for Lloyd or any others who attempt a similar approach – if residents are clearly not welcoming you on the doorstep then just politely ignore, put them down as a “No” and quietly leave) So here is a picture of Lloyd North recreating an infamous washing powder “doorstep challenge” TV ad of yesteryear (other washing powders are available and also so are other councillors):
Lloyd North: Doorstep fail
If Felicity Buchan, Lloyd North and their colleagues who found Saturday challenging (and have probably pushed a few more undecided voters Labour’s way- accidentally “painting the Town red”) would really like to know why so many residents in North Kensington are not very happy with them, they can look at the policies and activities of their Government, they can look at the disrespectful way that North Ken residents have been treated by RBKC (we have a huge archive of articles on that) and we can direct them to these stats regarding 5 of the 7 North Kensington wards ( taken from the Westway Trust) below which give a brief glimpse into the grim reality of what life is like for the poorest and most disadvantaged in North Kensington who , no thanks to the Conservatives, are suffering even further.
We do wonder why Tories are challenging themselves to go canvassing in Labour’s safest ward (and RBKC’s poorest) ward? It’s hardly as if their beloved Government (and all its ridiculous recent incarnations) is hugely popular. They could not surely have imagined they would receive a warm welcome from all ?!
A change of Government and a change of direction is badly, badly needed. The severe inequalities for residents of this borough have significantly worsened over the past 13 years and the residents suffering most aren’t about to let the Tories forget that.
Here are some pictures of both councillors and soon-to-be councillors out on the old “campaign trail”….
Here’s Labour:
Here are the Tories:
Looks like the Conservatives decided to wisely leave their “Young Conservatives” banner at home this time (even though Kim Taylor-Smith is really dressing the part!) The banner made an appearancebeforein theDalgarno by election – here it is from back then:
And here are the Lib Dems :
The parties have now finished their selections – we now know who most of the candidates are in held wards and there will be a lot of new faces in North Ken.. Now most RBKC residents wondering who their next councillors will be after May – the “Class of 2022 ” – do not have to wonder or speculate for much longer Here are the line ups of your likely councillors for most of the wards (including some of the other candidates in marginals and possible close runs) :
Abingdon Ward
No changes with RBKC Lead Member for Communities Cllr Anne Cyron and Cllrs James Husband (Planning Committee chair) and Sarah Addenbrooke standing again and this is a very safe Conservative ward so it’s safe to say they will all be back.
Sarah Addenbrooke
Brompton and Hans Town Ward
No candidate changes either. We doubt RBKC Lead Member for Finance and Customer Delivery and old guard devotee Cllr Mary Weale (who has been there since 1987!) will end up in the wheelie bin in this, one of the safest Tory wards. She and her fellow wards councillors Sof McVeigh and Walaa Idris will more than likely be returning too
Since Cllr Wheelie Bin thinks “there is no place for disgraceful soubriquets “and she “Wealie” doesn’t like being featured in THINK, here is an extra special picture of her:
Mary “Wheelie Bin” Weale
Campden Ward
RBKC Lead Member for Economy, Employment and Innovation Cllr Catherine Faulks is staying on. We are sorry to see thst Cllr Robert Freeman is retiring. Cllr Ian Wason is also leaving – and appears to be heading for Parliament The new Conservative candiates are Lloyd North and Preety Hudd
Campden is a very safe Tory ward so it’s safe to say these two will be joining Cllr Faulks.
Lloyd North
Chelsea Riverside Ward
Intriguing goings on in this Tory marginal ward, but probably no surprises to know that current Mayor of RBKC (and bad old days guard dog figure) Cllr Gerard Hargreaves fights on there again.
Cllrs Adrian Berrill-Cox and Alison Jackson are leaving in May. Unfortunately we do not have the answer as to who their likely replacements will be (more about that later).
Anyway, as this is a marginal ward and the nearest party is Labour, we can reveal that the three Labour candidates are newcomers Cehan Chiron, Mike Coelho and Jake Tbomas, who is a World’s End Estate local resident and he is pictured here:
Jake Thomas
This will be an interesting ward to watch. The Labour Party will see if the unpopularity of this Government really does translate into more votes going their way down here (which is home to quite a lot of social housing including both the World’s End and Cremorne Estates), possibly resulting in a shock exit for “Bulldog” Hargreaves. Stranger things have happened…..
Colville Ward
All change and some very interesting goings indeed in this Labour- held (but not safe) ward, and two of the incumbents Cllr Ian Henderson – who campaigned to save Chelsea’s Sutton Estate – and Cllr Nadia Nail have been deselected . Cllr Monica Press is stepping down. We are very sad and disappointed in what has been happening over this and sorry to see all three go. The latest news is that two of the candidates here are newcomers – Toby Benton and Dahabo Isse – and they are joined by one very familiar face, and that is Leader of the Labour Group, Cllr Mo Bakhtiar – who was deselected from St Helen’s Ward and was picked here instead.
Mo Bakhtiar
Years ago this North Kensington ward once used to have quite a sizable Lib Dem vote, but those days seem to have gone, and now Labour might have to watch their backs from the Tories here instead. Conservatives do seem to be very hopeful of making gains here; why else would they be leafleting and canvassing this ward on an almost daily basis? we think Labour will hold on, but just in case, the Conservative candidates here who could possibly become councillors (if the Tories are not being too overconfident here!) are Ellie Lines, Roni Greenfield and Becky Walsh.
Courtfield Ward
No changes in this South Kensington Conservative held Ward Cllrs Greg Hammond, Janet Evans and Quentin Marshall are all standing again.
This is a rock solid Tory ward with both opposition parties a long way behind , so we can expect all three will be safely back without any difficulty.
Janet Evans
Dalgarno Ward
A safe Labour – not their safest but safe enough – ward on the NW side of North Kensington sees one change and it is a big change. Cllr Pat Healy was deselected through no fault of her own – another councillor we will miss. Chair of the Housing and Communities Committee Cllr Kasim Ali stays on and he is joined by newcomer candidate Eva Jedut.
We do hope to see more of this sort of thing from her rather than countless angry comments and video links being posted in response to the FTHN blogs; (which could see her being labelled as a “Labour version of Matthew Palmer!”)
Kasim Ali
Earl’s Court Ward
This is always the most interesting ward as it is quite a unique RBKC word, being a THREE WAY MARGINAL – and definitely the one to watch. Currently it has two Cosnervative councillors – Cllrs Hamish Adourian and Malcolm Spalding – and one Lib Dem Cllr Linda Wade. All three are standing again.
Linda Wade
The new Conservntive candidate here is Stephanie Petit. The two other Liberal Democrat new candidates are Christophe Noblet and Tim Verboven. But this is not a two horse race, as this ward was also Labour’s closest call last time. Popular Earl’s Court local Bruno “De Florence” Diantantou stands as Labour candidate here again and he is joined by two other candidates, Sharda Rozena and fellow Earl’s Court local John Winter.
We cettainly think that this out of touch and problematic to say least Government and the cost of living crisis, the consequences of Brexit could possibly hit the Tories (both Tory Cllrs campaigned for Vote Leave) in tbis ward. This could be the one ward in which local, national and international politics may decide the result. Earl’s Court really could go any way……
Golborne Ward
Cllr Sina Lari stays on in this, the safest Labour ward, and he will be joined by two new candidates, Mona Adam (who stood in Norland last time) and Abdulahi Nur. All three are more than likely to be comfortably in. We’re very disappointed to learn that Cllr Pat Mason is standing down, and we’re also bewildered as to why Cllr Emma Dent Coad has decided to vacate this ward and head for St Helen’s instead.
Sina Lari
Holland Ward
Cllr Charles O’Connor is stepping down and Lead Member for Planning, Place and the Environment, Cllr Johnny Thalassites and Cllr Aarien Areti are staying on, to be joined by newcomer Lucinda Knight. This is a fairly safe Tory ward, but with a lot of residents in unstable rental situations being hit hard by the cost of living crisis and strong Labour candidates (including Nathaniel McBride who fought here last time ) we predict a noticable swing to Labour in this ward, but probably nowhere near enough to trouble the Tories.
Lucinda Knight
Norland Ward
This is the safest one of the two (out of seven) North Kensington wards that is held by Conservatives. Cllr Julie Mills is sadly leaving, but Cllr David Lindsay stays on, and he is joined by new candidate Stuart Graham Here is his Comms company Millbank Creative https://www.millbankcreative.com/
As if we don’t we have more than enough of all that comms PR stuff at RBKC as it is already?!! We predict a Tory hold with a similar result to last time .
Stuart Graham
Notting Dale Ward
Just minutes up the road from affluent Norland but almost a different world away, this ward, home to Grenfell Tower and most of the borough’s Council housing, is one of the safest Labour wards in the borough. Cllrs Robert Atkinson and Judith Blakeman are sadly standing down. Cllr Marwan Elnaghi is staying on, and he will be joined by Labour newcomer candidates (but who are both well known residents in the ward) Mona Ahmed and Claire Simmons.
Claire Slmmons
Pembridge Ward
This, the ward of Notting Hill Gate, is the only other Cosnetvative held Ward (besides Norland) in North Kensington. Cllr Laura Round is leaving, Cllr Dori Schmetterling stays on and he will be joined by a not so new face, as former senior councillor and resident of this ward, Joanna Gardner makes her return. There is an increasingly strong Lib Dem presence here and Labour are the second party, but neither got nowhere near taking it last time – we predict this to be a safe Tory return, but with noticeable swings to both Labour and the Lib Dems..
Dori Schmetterling
Queen’s GateWard
All change and no change? Well quite, because this is one of the safest Conservative wards and all three of the councillors have either been deselected or share stepping down . Cllr Matthew Palmer was thrown out of the Connservative Party (for campaigning for UKIP ) so no surprise to see him go, but we are surprised to see thst that “The Good Doctor” Cllr Dr Max Chauhan was mysteriously deselected ((but he doesn’t seem to have any hard feelings about it and still goes out campaigning for other candidates) . Cllr Maxwell Woodger was also deselected and he is now standing in St Helen’s. Sam Mackover who quit this ward in 2018 will be making a return , The two newcomers who will be joining him at the Town Hall are Roberto Weeden-Sanz and Will Lane.
Sam Mackover
Redcliffe Ward
Cllr Charles Williams is standing down, and he will be succeeded by new candidiate Sidney Yankson.
Sidney Yankson
Cllr Tom Bennett and Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee Cllr Marie-Therese Rossi are staying on. There is a noticeable Lib Dem presence here, and we predict quite a swing to them , but think this will one, as ever, will stay firmly blue.
Royal Hospital Ward
No changes here at all and we don’t think that RBKC Leader Cllr Elizabeth Campbell, Lead Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health Cllr Cem Kemahli and Lead Member for Community Safety, Culture and Leisure Cllr Emma Will have anything to worry about in this very safe Tory ward.
Cem Kemahli
(But we do amusingly remember at the 2018 count, seeing Dizzy Lizzy looking all aghast at seeing loads and loads of ballot papers piling up in the red trays and dwarfing her blue pile – there’s some social housing here, mainly around Chelsea Manor Street – but that later changed when the postal votes came in )
Stanley Ward
No changes here in this Chelsea Tory-held ward, which is home to the Sutton Estate. Independentts have had a go, Labour had a good go last time , but even though it is not the Tories safest seat, Stanley never budges from a firm Conservative hold. Incumbents Cllr Will Pascall, Lead Member for Family and Children’s Services Cllr Josh Rendall and RBKC Deputy Leader and Lead Member for Grenfell, Housing and Social Investment Cllr Kim Taylor-Smith stay on. They will more than likely be back in .
Josh Rendall
St Helen’s Ward
Same same but different. Cllr Portia Thaxter stays on and Cllr Emma Dent Coad comes across from Golborne to this Labour-held North Kensington ward.
However this is a marginal ward, Tories seen keen to want to take it back and Labour will be challenged by returning Tory candidate Miloud Bouhaddou and also Cllr Maxwell Woodger – who was deselected from Queen’s Gate and now hopes to be a councillor here instead. This one could be quite a fight and possibly a close call but we predict Cllrs Dent Coad and Thaxter to hold on .
Emma Dent Coad
So that’s it, who your likely “Class of 2022” councillors will be. Obviously this is a safe Tory council so there is little point in us making a big thing about what the result will be, although for residents in North Kensington wards, most of whom vote for other parties; we just get stuck being ruled over by people we never voted for again and again – frustrating!
If only we had an AV or AV plus system instead. Certainly more Labour, Lib Dem and perhaps a few Green Cllrs would make for a much healthier more well balanced Council here – but not justhere, we think ultra safe Councils are unhealthy, they get complacent and then go and do stupid, wasteful and reckless things. (Like neighbouring Westminster – or should that be “Wasteminster” wasting millions on a crap hill, or Labour-run Southwark having only woken up to the fact that their regeneration schemes have greatly reduced their social housing stock – so they now decide they will build on public parks! Dreadful) . But no change to this ghastly voting system will ever happen while this Government is still in charge, and that is why we still strongly believe in the importance of voting – and voting them out We also strongly believe that if more people bothered to vote, some of these results could be quite different; so please, please, no apathetic sitting on hands!
And now we are going to go intoa couple of points of concern locally about both Labour and the Conservatives……
Labour pains and newborns
Three Labour councillors – Judith Blakeman, Robert Atkinson and Monica Press – were stepping down already, but not so long ago, Labour held their selections and three more Labour councillors- Ian Henderson, Nadia Nail and Pat Healy – were deselected.
Our blog doesn’t understand what on earth Cllrs Henderson, Nail and Healy did to be deselected – we certainly can’t think of anything disagreeable about them – and now we have heard that Pat Mason is now stepping down too. They will all be greatly missed – not least by us.
So assuming that there is no change at RBKC – that would mean over half of their councillors would be newcomers . Now some of the people selected we have heard of and others we haven’t, but regardless, new councillors usually undergo extensive training (some need it more more than others), leaving the most inexperienced Oppostion we have ever seen. It greatly worries us that casework may fall on the back burner and vulnerable residents could suffer whilst some of the newborns are finding their feet with far fewer senior very experienced councillors on their side to help. . Some of the “newborns” we know are well prepared, but others may well be “lambs to the slaughter” at the Town Hall – especially as most of the senior Tories are staying put.
Some of Labour’s outgoing councillors are not stepping down quietly,; here’s what Monica Press had to say:
Infighting in the local Labour Party is nothing new. but recently it has been taken to new levels. There really was no need for the deselections, the “left” of the party was in charge anyway. All deselecting three decent councillors has served to do is to make the party look undemocratic, reduce the personal votes these councillors had (and Colville is not safe!) and will weaken them in Opposition. When we asked a senior Labour top dog about Dalgarno, we were told that “Pat had to go” – we beg to disagree- and that they had “a shortage of female candidates” which doesn’t explain why they are getting rid of two female councillors……
But the divisions in the Labour Party may not necessarily be always a straightforward left vs right thing, as previously we heard Pat Mason was staying on, now we hear that sadly he is stepping down, and it is bizarre that Mo Bakhtiar was ousted from St Helen’s.
Also we regularly hear from party members who say they are not being regularly communicated with and many of these members are on the left of the party.
The manoeuvrings in Golborne and St Helen’s are curious to say the least, but our blog is very unlikely to get answers, because despite the fact that we have often supported Labour and we have never personally criticised her, Emma Dent Coad, for some reason has blocked us:
We’re also wondering where the Labour campaign has gone? The picture we have posted was one of only three we could find after looking on Twitter. The Tories and Lib Dems have been out and about in the borough campaigning , but there has been been little sign of any actual Labour campaign and most residents haven’t received so much as a leaflet Let’s hope they haven’t given up. We do need a strong Opposition to stand up to RBKC but right now , it looks like some people may be more concerned with fighting amongst each other, rather than fighting the Tories
The mystery of the Tories at Chelsea Riverside
When we enquired about who was standing for the Conservatives besides incumbent Cllr Hargreaves in Chelsea Riverside , we were given no answer. This can only lead us to believe that there must be some controversy going on with the other two candidates, but what could it possibly be?
Could Maighread Condon-Simmonds (who was deselected in 2018) be standing again? Could Cllr Adrian Berrill-Cox (who apparently fought and won against deselection and stayed on as councillor last time round ) be refusing to leave? Or could it be something else?
We’d really like to have answers and we especially believe that residents of Chelsea Riverside deserve to know who their candidates (and most likely councillors ) are.
We have hoped to do – and certaintly get more requests for – more blog posts from Chelsea , and whatever is going on has to be something of interest for the Tories to be so cagey over this. We want answers, and the electorate deserve answers so we might be sticking our nosey beaks in down there to find out.
Maybe some of our clued up readers can fill us in? If so please get in touch with us at thisisnorthken@gmail.com
There are less than a couple of months to go, sooner or later the public will have to know, and the Tories are not making themselves look good by being so reticent to tell the public who their candidates are. It would be very odd indeed for them not to select people for a ward they already hold! Perhaps it would do Labour some good, for a change, rather than spending their time laying into each other up here, to instead spend more time in this marginal ward and put their efforts into taking advantage of the Tory situation and the absence of two candidates? Just a thought.
Here is Cllr Elizabeth “Dizzy Lizzy” Campbell, Leader of RBKC at a garden party last weekend . (Perhaps a caption competition is in order?) Here are a few more pictures from the same event we have come across:
Pictured above, is Dizzy Lizzy with Cllr “Tory Boy” Maxwell Woodger. Some may wonder why THINK or others should be so concerned at a few councillors letting their hair down , but then again we can always remind some of a previous post of ours, when Maxwell Woodger made utterly disgusting comments regarding Grenfell and making out that survivors were “milking the system” . Here it is:
And who was hosting this garden earlier this month Why, Cllr Maxwell Woodger of course! We do not see any objection let alone opposition to his offensive behaviour from our council leader, so let’s also share some more pictures from ” Tory Boy” Woodger’s party:
With many Grenfell survivors still not permanently rehoused, poor communication from RBKC regarding newsletters and leaflets with details of meetings, help and support not getting to residents, leaseholders facing an 89% hike in their insurance premiums, most of the council’s once plentiful reserves gone and residents having to pay a 5.99 % council tax increase; many locals here have little cause for celebration…..
As for Dizzy Lizzy’s choice of friends, Woodger who had a particular discussion with his colleagues regarding “how to spin Grenfell on the doorsteps”, one THINKer’ had an elder relative who used to say that “you can judge a person by the company they keep”!
RBKC Tory councillors Sof McVeigh (Brompton and Hans Town Ward), Hamish Adourian (Earl’s Court Ward) , Josh Rendall (Stanley Ward), Janet Evans (Courtfield Ward) and Greg Hammond (Courtfield Ward) also present at Woodger’s “event”
Some sharp eyes have spotted in the picture below, that former Kensington MP Victoria Borwick was in attendance too:
Also present and pictured is Lloyd North, who has made an appearance in THINK before:
North (who failed to be elected in Earl’s Court) was overheard by us during the local elections whingeing about blogs and press for mentioning his past as an “actor”! Well maybe this muppet ought to be more careful with what he shares in public in future if he plans to be a public representative!!
Some RBKC Tories really do have no shame amd here, on the Daily Mirror’s picture from the Ladbroke Arms incident, we can name and shame a few others:
Circled in purple is Tory agent Emily Maister, in blue is Cllr Laura Round (Pembridge Ward) and in green, is Tory chair Andrew Foster who has made a few appearances in our blog before and is also pictured again at Woodger’s party……
Here is an Instagram picture posted by the Kensington, Chelsea and Fulham Conservatives, showing their candidates for Earl’s Court. Pictured from left to right are Hamish Adourian, Lloyd North and Cllr Malcolm “Bananaman” Spalding. We’re rather amused by “Bananaman” standing in rather an unfortunate position in this photograph…..
Many of our readers will be familiar with Cllr Spalding of course. But who are the other two, some may ask?
Well, Hamish Adourian is known to some in our local area from the Colville Community Forum. He is also known to be an author of childrens books.
Lloyd North, on the other hand is well known for less than “family-friendly” reasons. Maybe parents of some of the young readers of Mr Adourian’s books may not wish their children to see the image below:
We have heard that Mr North, going by the name of “Warren Lord”, has made a few “appearances” in pornographic films. Fellow local blog From The Hornets Nest reported on this four years ago:
We at THINK are a liberal-minded bunch, but we’re not so sure this will go down too well with some true blue Daily Mail readers.
In other news on Conservative candidates, Chelsea Riverside have selected artist Alison Jackson as one of the candidates there. Maybe some ardent true blue Royalist Conservatives may not be fans of Ms Jackson’s work either:
We did wonder if the Tories’ unintentionally funny Instagram photo was some work of Ms Jackson’s?
As for Earl’s Court Ward, the Conservatives have in the past, benefited from a split Labour-Lib Dem vote. With local Liberal Democrat councillor Linda Wade doing outstanding work for the local community there, the Labour candidates proving to be popular in the area (particularly Earl’s Court resident and campaigner Bruno De Florence) and the new Advance party also looking to take votes, we’re not banking on the Tories to hold on to this one!
THis Is North Kensington 