Tories out of polls race

Published: 16 April, 2010

• I READ with some surprise the letter from a Conservative in Canonbury saying she had been talking to a woman on the Marquess estate who said the Lib Dems told her the race here in Islington South is between the Liberal Democrats and Labour (Two-horse polls race, April 9).
I have been talking to many residents on the estate and throughout Canonbury and, yes, this is precisely what we have been telling them, because it is true.
The Conservatives came fourth, behind the Greens, in the last council elections in Canonbury, and have no councillors anywhere in Islington. They came fourth in the European elections last year in Islington. And just 484 votes separated Lib Dem candidate Bridget Fox from Labour’s Emily Thornberry, but the Conservatives were 7,751 votes behind. 
No wonder the Labour Party is filling all its leaflets with the myth that the fight is between it and the Tories, because they know that if people vote Tory the Labour MP will be safe. The Tories aren’t the threat, the Liberal Democrats are. 
FARHANA HOQUE
Lib Dem council candidate, Canonbury ward

• IT is really a two-horse race between Labour and the Liberal Democrats in Islington South and, although there is a great deal of information available, I still don’t know much about the two candidates and their relative competences to carry out this job.
Emily Thornberry has been MP for the last few years, shows her face in the right places, gets her picture in the paper on a regular basis, appears to be rational and competent and has not been involved in the expenses scandal that has mired many of her colleagues.
Bridget Fox has been less evident in the last few years, since she ceased to be deputy leader of the council, but still shows her face in the right places, gets her picture in the paper on a regular basis, appears to be rational and competent.
So, knowing little of these two candidates, how do I choose one above the other?
Ms Fox was voted off the council four years ago by the people who do know her and had given her the opportunity to represent them four years earlier. Her neighbours had gone against the tide in the borough (the Lib Dems retained control of the council) and decided that, given this experience of her abilities, they would prefer someone else to represent them. It would seem foolish to ignore their judgement.
NEIL CHALLINOR
Milner Square, N1

• I’VE read the Tribune since it began publishing, and before that the Camden New Journal. I’ve always been aware of the editorial content’s general bias towards Labour, but in recent weeks this has gone too far.
Last week, for example, pages six and seven were dominated by the “save Emily” article, with photographs of Brown, Miliband and Thornberry dominating the whole spread. Bridget Fox, who was within a few votes of becoming our MP at the last election and who is standing again, gets barely a mention, and certainly no photograph.
This is one example, but is symptomatic of the bias shown by the Tribune over the years. I remember the last General Election when, in the run-up, the Tribune ran a lengthy and bitter campaign castigating the ruling Lib Dems for their parking policy. I’m sure you’d like to think that played some part in Ms Thornberry securing the seat.
Does the Tribune editorial policy have any regard to fair, even-handed reporting in the run-up to an election? I am saddened by this turn of events, and from now on the Tribune will go straight in the bin (recycling bin, of course).
STAN OLIVER
By email