Yesterday the man came out of his house because it was raining. He stood in the rain and announced the date for a General Election.It was deeply symbolic.
My (Labour) MP is former leader of Hammersmith Borough Council, Andy Slaughter. He has served since 2005 and by all accounts is a good constituency MP. His Conservative opponents have been a rum bunch – let’s leave it at that. Boundary changes, coming into effect at this election, mean I am now in Hammersmith and Chiswick. Chiswick should swell the number of Conservative voters but many may feel there’s a limit for one party in power and after fourteen Conservatives years it’s time to give Labour a chance. On the other hand, card-wielding members of the Conservative Party have recently twice proved their lack of judgement: voting for Boris Johnson and Liz Truss. I voted for Jeremy Hunt and Rishi Sunak and as the cards have fallen that’s who we have now. I am impressed by their team work; a stark contrast to the trench warfare between Blair and Brown.
“Hammersmith & Chiswick Conservatives have selected barrister Andrew Dinsmore as their candidate for the next General Election, scheduled for 2024.
Mr Dinsmore, a local councillor and ‘high-profile crime fighter’, was chosen from a three-person shortlist during a meeting held on Saturday 21 October at Chiswick’s George IV pub. He will face the incumbent Labour MP Andy Slaughter, who has been a west London MP for nearly 20 years and served as the Leader of Hammersmith & Fulham Council before that.
Chiswick has been added to Hammersmith to form the new constituency of Hammersmith & Chiswick, one of a number of constituency boundary changes approved by Parliament in the summer. This newly-formed constituency combines three Chiswick wards and the central parts of Hammersmith.
Andrew Dinsmore, who made headlines earlier this year for his role in a petition to the Home Office resulting in the banning of “zombie” knives in the UK, said he was delighted to be selected:
“I look forward to taking my work as a councillor forward in this fantastic area to campaign on transport, housing, health and crime.”
Cllr Dinsmore is also the Deputy Leader of the Conservative Group on Hammersmith and Fulham Council.” (The Chiswick Calendar, October 2023)
It is most encouraging that he is a criminal barrister. He is used to defending guilty parties.
Meanwhile I have bought a very kitsch wooden weather house to go in the hall near the tide clock that needs a new battery.
In a parliamentary form of government, let’s remember that a vote for a local Conservative MP translates into support for the entire Tory Party and its policies. Obviously, the same is true when one votes for the local Labour, Lib-Dem, Green and Reform candidates. Local elections have national impacts.
I think you mean local parliamentary elections. Borough councils are about pot-holes, bins and in Hammersmith a bridge.