Poll pain lingers on

• PAT Haynes makes cheap remarks about myself and my councillor colleagues (Why I hope to stand, January 22). This followed the piece on him the previous week, where the strong impression was given that Mr Haynes was still a councillor, and wanted to “carry on”.
Fact is Mr Haynes has not recovered from losing his Mildmay council seat in May 2002, convincingly, when residents decided they’d had enough after years of being the neglected corner of Islington, and voted for myself and the current mayor, Councillor Anna Berent.
Mr Haynes was a Labour councillor for more than 30 years, including a stint as mayor, and made precious little impression. Mildmay ward has been transformed in the last eight years. We’ve worked closely with residents to regenerate Newington Green, develop the Factory Children’s Centre and to improve housing and the environment.
While we know there is still much to be done, Mildmay has changed remarkably.
The article appeared to foster the impression that Mr Haynes is in the running to be reselected as a council candidate when it is common knowledge he was never even on the long list, indicating a lack of confidence from his local party. So, a non-story, except that not only was Mr Haynes rejected by the voters of Mildmay but clearly his own party have overlooked him once again. With an election due this year, I think we can all do without this type of personal and negative backbiting.
CLLR MERAL ECE
Lib Dem, Mildmay ward