LOCAL ELECTIONS 2010: Haverstock ward - Lib Dems fear backlash from own supporters at postponed election + CAMDEN COUNCIL RESULTS

Published: 13 May 2010
by RICHARD OSLEY

LABOUR have turned up the pressure ahead of elections in Haverstock by offering an “open door” to Lib Dem supporters who feel conned by the dealing at Westminster.

The Lib Dems will try to reassure voters in what promises to be a straight fight with Labour over the last three vacant seats on the council that they have taken the right course nationally.

The result will establish whether the Lib Dems become the largest opposition party in Camden or if Labour build a stronger majority. 

The election was postponed until Tuesday May 25 after Lib Dem councillor Syed Hoque died suddenly during the campaign. While some Lib Dems in Camden have reservations about the national deal and whether it will be seen as a betrayal by the left-leaning local electorate in Haverstock, others feel the party had no choice but to negotiate with the Conservatives.

Ed Fordham, the parliamentary candidate in Hampstead and Kilburn, said: “Either way you go, people will criticise, but Labour didn’t take a coalition seriously and you go into politics to get stuff done, not to sit on the sidelines. 

“Effectively we will have a veto in the cabinet.”

Many Labour members in Camden felt the suggestion that their own party should get involved in a coalition was too fanciful to consider and natural rivalries that have developed over the past four years have put members off searching for common ground with the Lib Dems. Leading Conservatives in Camden have different personal opinions about the national picture with many wondering whether the party should have soldiered on with a minority government. 

Councillor Andrew Marshall, however, said: “I’m pleased with the cabinet that is forming and I think we showed in Camden that you can achieve things by working together.”

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