Harlem Spirit
Moss Side is Labour heartland. The last canvass here returned 81%. Though turn out in the last general was just 21%. Factoring in a good number of people who are always 'out' to callers and are pretty unlikely to ever vote we could conceivably still double the turn out of our promises here.
With one of our eight wards always a marginal and another going bright yellow in the anti-war backlash of 2003 and 2004 we need to maximise our return from our six best wards as well as continuing the fightback in the tough ones.
Tony Lloyd MP has the 11th safest Labour seat in the land. He wonders aloud where the other ten actually are as standing in Moss Side it is harder to imagine a safer place for those who champion workers and the vulnerable.
But the people of Moss Side don't only need to retain their MP of 22 years standing. They need the conscious solidarity of the rest of the country to ensure no return to Tory government. Even the Tory-lite economic tendancies of the Orange Book need to be kept well away from power.
The physical environment has improved so very much here in the last eight years. It is in some senses unrecognisable and certainly the path to crime is much less well travelled. The houses on the estates are almost universally neat, clean and in a fantastic state of repair, fences, gates, gardens and all. The former Pepperhill Pub, once hub for one of two local gangs (the other being the Gooch), is a youth and community resource.
I spent time in there in the 80s organising poster printing and sound systems and liaising with my A&R man Larry Benji on which bands I was being offered to promote were the bankers. I should have quickly worked out that the answer was 'on average none of them' as promoting reggae shows and indeed most music shows the national promoters don't want is as profitable as virtual roulette down the bookies and very probably as addictive.
The baddest of the bad boys are now locked up most of the time. Or dead. Life has improved by leaps and bounds.
We report for duty at HQ. I recognise people from Ancoats, Hulme, City Centre, Whalley Range and of course Moss Side. This is something of a Tuesday awayday when one key ward gets some extra support to help complete the canvass in a polling district or two.
We will pick up case work, administrivia, comments and ideas as we go.
Even by Moss Side standards the area we are covering tonight is hugely supportive. We are told of the one local issue which might come up. After a freeze on heating bills over the past five years or so there is to be a 30% rise for those on area heating schemes. This has come from the Utilities people themselves who are probably overcharging. But it is clearly not fair for other tenants to be overcharged by the Council, only the Lib Dems could promise to throw a chunk of the Council's hard earned reserves at the problem, and in fact the Labour Group is pursuing both the Utilities and the Energy Saving routes to mitigate the rise.
In fact this does not come up even once. I reorganise the boxes of leaflets in my car so that Cllr Mrs Brandy and Ahsan can fit in and we head off across Princess Road to Bold Street. This is opposite the former site of the Little Alex pub where the 2004 election saw a huge Green Is Good hoarding for the duration. The value of that in commercial terms would run to thousands of pounds - though I'm sure it was not in the election return. What's more Manchester's Greens, expecting gains, made none.
Ahsan tries to pull himself out of the rear seat using the door pillar, Mrs Brandy shuts the car door and for a second or two three fingers are somehow secured between tightly closed door and frame. Ouch. There is blood. We make sure he is OK and head off to work.
Of my first 15 homes I get an almost unprecedented 14 people coming to the door with several inviting me in. Two of the first three include voters who may need proxy votes arranged. We have until 24 April to get new postal or proxy votes organised.
Most know Tony Lloyd personally through some help or other. And there are ideas or issues to feed back to him from several more.
One is very concerned about the changes in pension books, post offices and the way banks seem to treat older customers. A particular concern is for those who can no longer sign at all, or whose signatures change as their hands lose function.
Banks are a suspicious lot and the new money laundering rules are aimed at organised crime without the law or the banks' implementation being sensitive to such problems.
I tell her that Tony Lloyd has a great record of speaking up on such matters, including in Parliament (e.g. Feb 2003) on local Post Office closures and management cheating in this very area. Long before this became a hot issue for the opposition.
I don't need to tell her that the Lib Dems have policy to privatise the lot if they get their chance. She will clearly vote Labour. I think Tony will be very interested in these questions of power of attorney, changing signatures, banks vs post office service and so on. I thank her very much for raising the issue.
Meanwhile the childminder in the house I have just passed has come out. I collect casework here too. The street behind her house has had speed reduction measures but is still a hazard for children. Many of the formal play areas in this part of Manchester have been lost at least for the moment. She also wants to move her business and perhaps set up a larger nursery. Perhaps we can point her at some guidance? Or suitable premises?
At the very next house I meet a voter from neighbouring Whalley Range who is anxious to check she is still on the register there. She is looking after her very elderly mum who has a postal vote lined up. She is a huge fan of Tony Lloyd's and says she'd like to see more of him. It must be pretty hard to keep a network of 80,000 people happy with frequent sightings. Tony does a regular advice session nearby.
And so it goes on. I link up with Mrs Brandy, one time doyen of caribbean catering in the area, enjoying being a councillor these past couple of years, with a career in community development to boot and a tremendous rapport on the estate. We work round a couple of side streets together generally taking different houses though she is quick to rush over to see an old friend Myrtle and even quicker to hand back the house with the barking dog AND next door.
The barking dog is soft as they come. He can smell my three dogs on my hand. His venerable Irish owner is another with an open door policy and turns the volume right down on the telly in my honour, both are mourning the loss of the dog's mum, and she promises me her boyfriend's vote also. "My boyfriend mind, not me man." I know Tony Lloyd will be getting offered tea at every other door but this open door welcome is a real breath of fresh air. Something not found in the wards I have done most of my campaigning in these last few years.
Her neighbour across the street is 'not in' says the young man who answers the door. But it's someone else she's avoiding and she proves to be an enthusiastic Labour supporter once she knows the coast is clear.
Chelsea-Bayern has kicked off now and we hustle round the last few houses with diminishing returns. Between Mrs Brandy and myself we have about 80 contacts and 50 outs which is not bad. Particularly as we have only found three or four "against" altogether. We check in on Ahsan, who has made a good recovery from his finger mash, and as we walk back to the car Mrs Brandy points out this open space and that, what she'd like to see there. And children's play areas is happily a regular.
As we drive back this time going close to the cleared Maine Road she points out some houses that will go, the housing improvements to those that will stay, and also the new Somali community setting up shop. There has been a Somali community in this part of Manchester for at least 30 years - including the famous Plaza and Palace cafes where the menus included killer, suicide and kamikaze as well as mild, medium, hot - but all has not been plain sailing with the newest arrivals. There is a job to be done there too, especially with and for the young people.
Back at base we see some of the others. Roy, Manchester's first Jamaican major a few years back - for the Commonwealth Games in fact. Gerry, who has past lives as Tractor Engineer and hereditary peer. He has contested two Lords by-elections and would be back in ermine like a shot. We differ on that and quite a lot besides!
Sarah and Drew then return and tell me the hot news of my own nemesis in Whalley Range.
This Councillor, the war dancer, is hailed as a buffoon even by some members of his own local party. He is in a right tiswas over the upcoming boundary changes (see 1 April footnotes). He is not only backing the move to Gorton constituency which is hugely unpopular in the area. Most people of all parties and none want to stay in Manchester Central. His petition is way out of step. He is also throwing out false deadlines and misinformation. Did it over Post Offices too. Issuing consultations leaflets weeks and months after the real deadline. He's doing most of this out in the open on public email forums. I'm promised copies of the emails.
On the way out Tony seems to catch his leather coat on the door furniture. There is a momentary fashion worry. There is a little snag. But that I'm assured is from by-election duties in Leicester.
He has a special email address for the duration of the campaign - votetonylloyd@hotmail.co.uk - and I will be using this to send through casework and other news.
I finish my notes, slurp down my cuppa, and head home for a late but most excellent tea of curried lamb, sweet rice and salad.
With one of our eight wards always a marginal and another going bright yellow in the anti-war backlash of 2003 and 2004 we need to maximise our return from our six best wards as well as continuing the fightback in the tough ones.
Tony Lloyd MP has the 11th safest Labour seat in the land. He wonders aloud where the other ten actually are as standing in Moss Side it is harder to imagine a safer place for those who champion workers and the vulnerable.
But the people of Moss Side don't only need to retain their MP of 22 years standing. They need the conscious solidarity of the rest of the country to ensure no return to Tory government. Even the Tory-lite economic tendancies of the Orange Book need to be kept well away from power.
The physical environment has improved so very much here in the last eight years. It is in some senses unrecognisable and certainly the path to crime is much less well travelled. The houses on the estates are almost universally neat, clean and in a fantastic state of repair, fences, gates, gardens and all. The former Pepperhill Pub, once hub for one of two local gangs (the other being the Gooch), is a youth and community resource.
I spent time in there in the 80s organising poster printing and sound systems and liaising with my A&R man Larry Benji on which bands I was being offered to promote were the bankers. I should have quickly worked out that the answer was 'on average none of them' as promoting reggae shows and indeed most music shows the national promoters don't want is as profitable as virtual roulette down the bookies and very probably as addictive.
The baddest of the bad boys are now locked up most of the time. Or dead. Life has improved by leaps and bounds.
We report for duty at HQ. I recognise people from Ancoats, Hulme, City Centre, Whalley Range and of course Moss Side. This is something of a Tuesday awayday when one key ward gets some extra support to help complete the canvass in a polling district or two.
We will pick up case work, administrivia, comments and ideas as we go.
Even by Moss Side standards the area we are covering tonight is hugely supportive. We are told of the one local issue which might come up. After a freeze on heating bills over the past five years or so there is to be a 30% rise for those on area heating schemes. This has come from the Utilities people themselves who are probably overcharging. But it is clearly not fair for other tenants to be overcharged by the Council, only the Lib Dems could promise to throw a chunk of the Council's hard earned reserves at the problem, and in fact the Labour Group is pursuing both the Utilities and the Energy Saving routes to mitigate the rise.
In fact this does not come up even once. I reorganise the boxes of leaflets in my car so that Cllr Mrs Brandy and Ahsan can fit in and we head off across Princess Road to Bold Street. This is opposite the former site of the Little Alex pub where the 2004 election saw a huge Green Is Good hoarding for the duration. The value of that in commercial terms would run to thousands of pounds - though I'm sure it was not in the election return. What's more Manchester's Greens, expecting gains, made none.
Ahsan tries to pull himself out of the rear seat using the door pillar, Mrs Brandy shuts the car door and for a second or two three fingers are somehow secured between tightly closed door and frame. Ouch. There is blood. We make sure he is OK and head off to work.
Of my first 15 homes I get an almost unprecedented 14 people coming to the door with several inviting me in. Two of the first three include voters who may need proxy votes arranged. We have until 24 April to get new postal or proxy votes organised.
Most know Tony Lloyd personally through some help or other. And there are ideas or issues to feed back to him from several more.
One is very concerned about the changes in pension books, post offices and the way banks seem to treat older customers. A particular concern is for those who can no longer sign at all, or whose signatures change as their hands lose function.
Banks are a suspicious lot and the new money laundering rules are aimed at organised crime without the law or the banks' implementation being sensitive to such problems.
I tell her that Tony Lloyd has a great record of speaking up on such matters, including in Parliament (e.g. Feb 2003) on local Post Office closures and management cheating in this very area. Long before this became a hot issue for the opposition.
I don't need to tell her that the Lib Dems have policy to privatise the lot if they get their chance. She will clearly vote Labour. I think Tony will be very interested in these questions of power of attorney, changing signatures, banks vs post office service and so on. I thank her very much for raising the issue.
Meanwhile the childminder in the house I have just passed has come out. I collect casework here too. The street behind her house has had speed reduction measures but is still a hazard for children. Many of the formal play areas in this part of Manchester have been lost at least for the moment. She also wants to move her business and perhaps set up a larger nursery. Perhaps we can point her at some guidance? Or suitable premises?
At the very next house I meet a voter from neighbouring Whalley Range who is anxious to check she is still on the register there. She is looking after her very elderly mum who has a postal vote lined up. She is a huge fan of Tony Lloyd's and says she'd like to see more of him. It must be pretty hard to keep a network of 80,000 people happy with frequent sightings. Tony does a regular advice session nearby.
And so it goes on. I link up with Mrs Brandy, one time doyen of caribbean catering in the area, enjoying being a councillor these past couple of years, with a career in community development to boot and a tremendous rapport on the estate. We work round a couple of side streets together generally taking different houses though she is quick to rush over to see an old friend Myrtle and even quicker to hand back the house with the barking dog AND next door.
The barking dog is soft as they come. He can smell my three dogs on my hand. His venerable Irish owner is another with an open door policy and turns the volume right down on the telly in my honour, both are mourning the loss of the dog's mum, and she promises me her boyfriend's vote also. "My boyfriend mind, not me man." I know Tony Lloyd will be getting offered tea at every other door but this open door welcome is a real breath of fresh air. Something not found in the wards I have done most of my campaigning in these last few years.
Her neighbour across the street is 'not in' says the young man who answers the door. But it's someone else she's avoiding and she proves to be an enthusiastic Labour supporter once she knows the coast is clear.
Chelsea-Bayern has kicked off now and we hustle round the last few houses with diminishing returns. Between Mrs Brandy and myself we have about 80 contacts and 50 outs which is not bad. Particularly as we have only found three or four "against" altogether. We check in on Ahsan, who has made a good recovery from his finger mash, and as we walk back to the car Mrs Brandy points out this open space and that, what she'd like to see there. And children's play areas is happily a regular.
As we drive back this time going close to the cleared Maine Road she points out some houses that will go, the housing improvements to those that will stay, and also the new Somali community setting up shop. There has been a Somali community in this part of Manchester for at least 30 years - including the famous Plaza and Palace cafes where the menus included killer, suicide and kamikaze as well as mild, medium, hot - but all has not been plain sailing with the newest arrivals. There is a job to be done there too, especially with and for the young people.
Back at base we see some of the others. Roy, Manchester's first Jamaican major a few years back - for the Commonwealth Games in fact. Gerry, who has past lives as Tractor Engineer and hereditary peer. He has contested two Lords by-elections and would be back in ermine like a shot. We differ on that and quite a lot besides!
Sarah and Drew then return and tell me the hot news of my own nemesis in Whalley Range.
This Councillor, the war dancer, is hailed as a buffoon even by some members of his own local party. He is in a right tiswas over the upcoming boundary changes (see 1 April footnotes). He is not only backing the move to Gorton constituency which is hugely unpopular in the area. Most people of all parties and none want to stay in Manchester Central. His petition is way out of step. He is also throwing out false deadlines and misinformation. Did it over Post Offices too. Issuing consultations leaflets weeks and months after the real deadline. He's doing most of this out in the open on public email forums. I'm promised copies of the emails.
On the way out Tony seems to catch his leather coat on the door furniture. There is a momentary fashion worry. There is a little snag. But that I'm assured is from by-election duties in Leicester.
He has a special email address for the duration of the campaign - votetonylloyd@hotmail.co.uk - and I will be using this to send through casework and other news.
I finish my notes, slurp down my cuppa, and head home for a late but most excellent tea of curried lamb, sweet rice and salad.
posted by Chris Paul at 11:58 PM
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