Vauxhall Liberal Democrats have been out and about in Kennington and Stockwell as part of Lib Dem Leader Menzies Campbell’s Community Canvass Week. Teams have been out knocking on doors and talking to local residents about key issues such as crime.
Caroline has been out and about supporting excellent Lib Dem candidates in two important by-elections in London.
The first is for the Haverstock Council by-election in Camden, where a team from Southwark went to help Matt Sanders and the team recently.
And now, we have a parliamentary by-election in Ealing, where the Lib Dems are in a strong second place, with local candidate Nigel Bakhai standing for the seat.
Caroline Pidgeon, Lib Dem PPC for Vauxhall, attended the Kennington Fete in Cleaver Square on Sunday 20th May to support this excellent annual community event. The rain held off this year, and Caroline enjoyed talking to lots of Kennington residents as well as local businesses and members from community groups such as the Friends of Kennington Park, and a local Tai Chi group. Also there were Lib Dem Lambeth councillors, and Charles Kennedy and his family.
Liberal Democrats on Southwark Council have warned that local communities are set to lose out on using school buildings because of delays by Chancellor Gordon Brown.
Southwark Lib Dems have been campaigning for some time to make new school buildings VAT exempt. In his budget in March, Gordon Brown made reference to accepting such a change but the delay in announcing details could hit Southwark hard.
Liberal Democrat Councillors were out in force outside Borough Post Office to collect signatures on a petition to save the Borough High Street Post Office, which faces closure. The Government has already closed the Post Office at the Elephant and Castle, and now looks set to close yet another Post Office in Southwark.
Caroline joined Streatham Liberal Democrat Councillors, activists and their parliamentary spokesperson to carry out a crime survey on Saturday 12th May. Residents expressed concern about issues such as drug dealing at bus stops on Tulse Hill and general issues of safety and crime in the area.
The Chingford Green by-election on 26th April saw a massive 15% swing to the Liberal Democrats in this ward in Waltham Forest. Caroline went and helped the team on a number of occasions. Achieving over a thousand votes in Iain Duncan Smith’s seat is a real victory and shows what a strong Lib Dem campaign can achieve.
Photo – Caroline out campaigning on election day in Chingford Green.
On Tuesday Caroline visited Vauxhall City Farm where she adopted and fed Lamby the Wensleydale Sheep, one of the new born lambs.
“Vauxhall City Farm is a vital resource for the community in north Lambeth and wider afield. It was a delight to visit and see their work first hand. We must ensure that the City Farm’s work can continue, and that their funding is secure” said Caroline.
Caroline joined Southwark Lib Dems in a trip to help colleagues in Woking with their Borough Council elections. The team spent the day helping in Knaphill Ward, supporting local candidates Christian Morgan-Jones. Not only did the Southwark team help deliver lots of leaflets and meet local residents, they enjoyed the sunshine and the warm welcome and lunch!
Westminster are off to a great start in this by-election. Caroline joined the local team delivering their latest Focus over a sunny Easter weekend, before meeting up with Jonathan Fryer for a drink at a pub in the sun. It was a warm welcome (in more ways than one!) from both residents and the local Lib Dem team.
