Thursday, December 08, 2011

Help Seema Malhotra be the next Labour & Co-op MP for Feltham & Heston

Dear friend, I have been a member of the Co-operative Party for almost ten years and I’m proud to be standing to be the Labour & Co-operative Member of Parliament for Feltham & Heston, the area where I grew up.

Labour Party members selected me last weekend to be their candidate in the by-election on 15 December. It would be an honour to follow the work of Alan Keen, one of the first MPs I ever knew, who sadly passed away earlier this month and gave many years of service to Hounslow, to the Labour and co-operative movements and the world of sport.

[ Read the tribute to Alan Keen by Martin O’Donovan, Director of the Parliamentary Labour Party ]

But to win I need your help.

Make no mistake, the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats will be targeting this seat hard. Vince Cable will be wanting to shore up his political future after boundary changes and Boris Johnson will be looking to boost his mayoral campaign with the last test of Londoners’ opinion before May’s elections.

For Feltham & Heston to continue to have a Labour & Co-operative Member of Parliament we need Co-operative Party members to support us – on the doorstep and on the phone.

The Co-operative Party will be holding a campaign weekend on 10/11 December from 11am each day – join the team at Feltham railway station on Saturday and Sunday. Or come along to the by-election phonebank at Co-operative Party HQ, 77 Weston St SE1 3SD from 6pm on the 6th and 13th of December to help us speak to local residents.

You can also help my campaign at any time by coming along to the campaign centre at Feltham Labour Hall, Manor Place TW14 9BT. Email with your contact details today to mailto:felthamandheston@labour.org.uk?subject=Co-operative%20Party%20help or call the volunteer hotline on 07872 417252. You can follow me on Twitter at @SeemaMalhotra1.

Yours in co-operation,

Seema

UPDATE: Seema Wins with an increased Labour Majority.

10 comments:

George Hallam said...

The Conservatives themselves know that they "haven't a hope in hell" of winning Feltham and Heston.

This time the old "don't let the Tories in" argument for voting Labour doesn't wash.

There is really no need for that vote for a party that advocates cuts at a national level and carries them out locally. You really don’t have to vote for a party that loves ‘flexible’ labour markets and rigid anti-union laws. The party that “couldn’t support” the strike on the 30th November can manage without you.

So leave that clothes peg at home when you go to vote. Stop holding your nose in the polling station and start voting for the things you believe in.

You know what needs to be done.

Stop kowtowing to the bankers. They caused the original credit crunch. They should be made to pay for their mistakes, not bailed out and rewarded with bonuses.

Stop all cuts: reducing public spending during a recession is a sure way to crash the economy. It’s happened in Greece and Ireland and now it’s happening in the UK.

We need jobs, real jobs with decent pay and conditions. This means reinventing manufacturing industry. Britain is still the 6th largest manufacturing nation on earth. It is ridiculous that we should he importing more than we export.
We need housing at realistic prices. We could have them if landlords were punished for leaving properties empty and councils were free to build council houses again.

The 15th is an opportunity to tell the powers that be where to get off. If you think that we should put people before profit then vote People Before Profit.

John Gray said...

Hi Anon

The only alternative to Labour in Felton are the Tories (or Heinz 57 la la politics).

Labour is of course not perfect but it is a progressive reformist national party trying to appeal and get support from a broad church.

if you don't support Labour then fair enough.

But if you don't vote Labour then you run the risk of the Tories winning.

Your choice.

John Hamilton said...

I can't see why any trade unionist is supporting a person who works as a consultant on public services for Price Waterhouse Cooper. Just as we are calling on less money to be wasted on consultants fees, and "outsourcing" public sector jobs, she comes along pretending to be on the side of ordinary people. Well ordinary people don't earn £100,000 p.a. advising on privatising public services, while living in a £3m mansion in Chelsea. And by the way, she is not a Co-op candidate - she dropped that from the nomination paper.

John Hamilton, People Before Profit, an alternative to Tory, Lib-Dems and Labour

John Gray said...

Hi John
I understand that you are deliberating distorting things as you lot do in the weird and wonderful world you live in but since you “attack the person not politics” can I suggest that you go and knock on a few doors in Feltham and speak to some real people and get some real political December realism.

Maybe you then stop wasting your life with this completely self indulgent fantasy rubbish.

Ray Barron Woolford said...

Some what stunned, that a person who claims to support the public sector workers, is willing to vote for a party and a Candidate that has failed to support the strike, and a labour party which no less than 3 union leaders, said was a disgrace.if you are real about supporting public sector workers, then you would be playing a real active roll in helping to build an alternative, because at present the Labour party offers no difference to the present Goverment.. Have you already forgotton that Labour ignored the 1 million plus who marched against the Iraq war?. have you already forgotton it was the Labour party who started the Student fees..?. have you forgotton it was the Labour party that introduced PFI that has crippled much of thev health service. are you not aware that the present pensions policy was set up by Labour and the Tory Party by Lord Hutton a former Labour Party Minister being introduced by the Conservative Party following on from Labour.. i am simple staggered that you could even think of voting Labour as a Trades unionist.. Clearly if you have any old style Labour Values, and as we do believe Community need, should come before Big Business and Establishment Greed, then you should be Voting George Hallam, London People before Profit, the Only candidate in this election, who is not part of the wrotton political, System and the Labour party that caused this mess.

Anonymous said...

I am stunned that a man who claims to support the working class, could even think off voting for a Labour Party, which started Student Fees, Ignored the 1 million of us who marched against the war, Started PFI, that has crippled much of the Health service and has lead to the present Goverments plans to privatise the NHS. a Labour Goverment which had a Minister Lord Hutton, who has helped the Tory Goverment put forward a pensions policy that say 2 million workers go on strike, and one in which the Labour Party, and the Chelsea living Mega rich Labour Candidate, who works as a consultant for a company that advices local Councils, how to make cuts...failed to support..The only real Alternative in this By-Election, as clearly the Labour part and the Torys are no different..Is George Hallam and the London People Before Profit Party.Did you not see News night, in which no less than 3 union leaders, including head of NUT, said.. Labour Party was a Disgrace.. I could not agree with her more

John Gray said...

Hi anons
More self important garbage I see from the toy town trot and armchair revolutionaries brigade.

You lot are never happier than when Tories are in power attacking working people and of course you won't do anything about them 'cause that would get your middle class hands a little dirty.

So keep selling the newspapers, keep on with the nonsensical policies, keep on howling at the moon and let the grown ups get on with the real politics and set about defeating your Tory mates.

Anonymous said...

Hi John,

interesting comments from the last 2 annons: the lewsisham campaigner and the simply anon. Do you notice that whilst one is simply 'stunned' the other is 'somewhat stunned' and some of the wording is a literal echo.

Clearly they are stunned to the extend of being deprived of original thought. A not uncommon problem in their political tradition.

We are encouraged to 'build the alternative.' The ultra left have been 'building the alternative' ever since the Iraq War. Respect, Respect 2 (Respect Renewal,)SPEW have run and at one point we had 'No2EU' which some people up here thought was right wing. The alternative invariably fell on it's face.
Apart from anything else these little projects are deeply patronising to working people. You expect to parachute in and just garner votes with no past record to recommend you.
I wonder how heavily involved these guys are with their trade unions.
I'll make a tiny prediction. This People Before Profit bunch will get approximately 1.7% of the vote.
Why? The electorate aren't fools (and the ultras rarely break the 2% barrier!.)

Dave Draycott

John Gray said...

Hi Dave

Agreed. The smaller the vote the louder they whinge.

(So what time are you and Andy down in the Smoke on Friday? Send us a text)

John Gray said...

Hi Dave

You wildly over estimated the ultra loons. Result was “George Hallam, London People Before Profit - 128 (0.55%)”. In the worse crisis of capitalism in 80 years this is the best they can do.

What a bunch of pathetic no-hopers.