Pub trade's MPs regain seats


http://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/news.ma/ViewArticle?R=86954

Tim Farron is missing from the list. He and Greg Mulholland have done more for the cause of tied lessees than any other politicians. They also both deservedly substantially increased their majorities because they are very good constituency MPs. People like these make politics good.

My home town of Camberwell, London, SE5 sits on the border between Lambeth and Southwark. Camberwell has been a Labour stronghold since time began with all five wards it covers, two in Lambeth three in Southwark, being pretty much uniformly Labour within boroughs whose political leanings have wavered over the last two decades, leading to creating odd LibDem/Tory alliances built purely to keep Labour out of office. None of this has served SE5 at all well, the consequence being that we have been comprehensively overlooked by both local authorities who've had no incentive to invest anything in the area because there's been nothing to gain politically by doing so.

This general election has comprehensively changed this set up. Both boroughs are now securely Labour, each having increased their Labour vote at the same time as all SE5 wards have increased theirs. For the first time in a couple of generations there is a realistic opportunity for my area to get holistic local authority attention. This is good but will only come about if the people make demands of the new administrations either side of the border.

In the midst of this in itself potentially exciting time the newly founded Camberwell Party (set up precisely to highlight the dreadful lack of local political focus on Camberwell) won seats in Camberwell Green Ward, which is a fantastic achievement for the people responsible...

On the other hand Camberwell's pubs are almost all tied and even those free of tie are on their uppers.