Food Foraging, Sat 25 Sept.

Come on a food foraging walk around South Bermondsey - we will gather a Summer harvest and walk up Telegraph Hill, where we will prepare a lunch of wild food and drink.

Saturday 25th September, 11am-2pm.

Gather at the gates of Brimmington Park, towards the New Cross end of the Old Kent Road.

A voluntary contribution will be taken in support of Lewisham Green Party.

RSVP dazflint@hotmail.com

Thank you for voting Green!

In the end, Telegraph Hill was taken by Labour candidates Paul Bell, Joan Millbank and Dan Whittle, as part of a wider Labour landslide across Lewisham and the rest of inner London. Greens and the other smaller parties were squeezed by the general election on the same day, particularly given the current political climate with the national media framing the election as a choice between the two or three biggest parties.

Despite this pressure, the Green Party suceeded in having Caroline Lucas elected as the first Green MP, for Brighton Pavillion. This is an historic achievment, all the more remarkable given that the current electoral system is expressly designed to keep out smaller, younger parties.

Here in Telegraph Hill we fought a great campaign, effectively doubling the Green vote and closing the gap between ourselves and the Socialists, who have lost their seats on Lewisham council. This is a fantastic gain, placing us in a very strong position to contest future elections.

On behalf of the Telegraph Hill Green Team and the Lewisham Green Party, I'd like to thank everyone who voted for us and especially give my thanks to all those activists who came out to support our campaign work.

Everything to play for in Telegraph Hill:

We're getting an encouraging response from voters as we enter election week, with more and more people telling us that they're planning to vote Green!

It's great that all our hard work in Telegraph Hill and across Lewisham is starting to pay off, and Priscilla, Bill and myself contemplate the possibility of joining the Green group on Lewisham Council and representing the people of Telegraph Hill.

The election isn't over yet, though, with none of the parties contesting Telegraph Hill ready to claim an early victory.

Green Cllr. Darren Johnson is mounting the strongest opposition yet against Joan Ruddock in the bid to be Lewisham Deptford MP, with Dean Walton standing as our Mayoral candidate.

For seats on Council it's a three-way race between Greens, Labour and the Socialists.

The Socialists don't seem to be getting as strong a response as they did last time, putting in doubt their bid to retain Council seats. Meanwhile, life-long Labour supporters look set to stay at home in droves after the wars, scandals and disappointments of recent years. The Lib Dems don't seem to be doing much in Telegraph Hill, and the Tories probably never will.

That leaves the Greens as the only party who look to be making significant gains in Telegraph Hill. Whether we win or not on May 6th (and we do intend to win), we're already seeing a very positive increase in our share of the vote. Again, this election will be close and any party that thinks they've got Telegraph Hill 'in the bag' is fooling themselves.

Whatever the outcome of the local elections, one thing is certain; with Labour's Cllr. Robin Cross standing down, Telegraph Hill WILL have a new team of councillors this time next week...

THERE'S NEVER BEEN A BETTER TIME TO VOTE GREEN!

Green Party Election Broadcast

The Green Party launched its election broadcast recently alongside a new website. As well as watching the broadcast, you can personalise it and email it to your friends, and they can visit the site and not only look at our key policies but take a Policy Matchmaker test to see how close to the Green Party they are.



We don't get a great deal of national broadcast media exposure, so when we do, we need to get it right. We think this is pretty nifty, but what do you think?

Experiences on the campaign trail...

The canvassing trail is now progressing surprisingly well with a diverse avalanche of opinion ranging from residents somewhat satisfied in their local services, social, healthcare et al but this has only been reflected by a small minority. Predominantly residents have signalled larger concerns with crime, transport, road/ pavement conditions, skate parks and education which have been steadily become key issues that need addressing by their representatives in the council.

As I noted to a resident, the stance that the Greens would take in resolving these issues, though passionate would be a realistic one. Broken promises are a weakness of any form of government beit local, central or European and should not be uttered if one considers themselves as a true respresentative.

My desire to help local residents stems from a long-term and deep rooted objective to achieve democracy whether it was through supporting tutors in education or supporting mothers living in deprivation. I also supported a pledge against Lewisham Hospital closure as well as the Pension pledge to increase state pension to £170. The causes I chose to support are given credibility as they are close to my heart having known, worked with or assisted people who have been through or tried to cope with an adverse experience.

When I am out canvassing I see residents as the individuals that they are and days, weeks and months later remember individual conversations that I had despite the consolidation of views of main opinions. Considering consciously that residents ARE indiviuals is a difficult challenge for most politicians as they are consolidated despite reflecting different voices - a crucial point to remember.

That said, I will continue on my trail noting each individual concern or action likely to be required in light of the issues raised. I must not forget to mention that the interaction and discussions with residents has been enlightening, informative and enables us to actively voice these issues to the council.

Personally, it is an experience I embrace as not only serious but equally delightful when you meet indiviudals in Telegraph Hill.- a ward which is as historic, calm, colourful and dynamic as it is beautiful...

Parliamentary Hustings 2010 - Your chance to ask Darren Johnson a question

17 April, at Utrophia Project Space, The Ice Cream Factory

Meet and question the candidates for MP of Lewisham Deptford!


NO2ID and Power 2010 present a hustings at the Utrophia Project Space for the Parliamentary candidates for the 2010 General Election, with the following panel:

- Darren Johnson: Green
- Gemma Townsend: Conservative
- Ian Page: Trade Union & Socialist
- Tamora Langley: Lib Dem
- Joan Ruddock: Labour (TBC)

Anyone is welcome to come along and ask questions to the candidates about whatever issues are important to you in this election, so come along and get your questions answered so you can make an informed vote come election day.

Where and when:
Saturday, 17th April from 5pm
Utrophia Project Space
136 Tanners Hill
Deptford SE8 4QD

Fair is Worth Fighting For...

Today saw the official launch of our 2010 General Election manifesto, Fair is Worth Fighting For.

Everybody expects the Green Party to promote environmental issues and policies that tackle climate change. It's widely accepted that we take the environment (with a capital 'E') more seriously than the other major parties. Unfortunately, people don't always know that we have a range of solid, sensible policies on more traditional subjects like schools or housing.

As our Party Leader Caroline Lucas said at today's launch, "We believe that the choice between safeguarding the environment and the economy is a false one - if you want to see how 'green' a party is, look at its economic policies."

Some of the best policies would deliver multiple benefits from the same modest investments. For example, free home insulation would reduce the use of fossil fuels which is good for the environment, but also good for householders who would save on average £150 per year. At the same time, a large-scale insulation programme would create thousands of new jobs. It's this kind of policy that sets the Green Party apart from the 'business as usual' parties of the old establishment.

As voters feel increasingly 'switched off' from those mainstream parties, we're emerging as one of the voices furthest to the 'left' in popular politics. In Lewisham for instance, it is Green councillors who have promoted the London Living Wage for Council and Council-contracted workers. In today's manifesto we called for a guaranteed, non-means-tested state pension of £170 per week, minimum. It really can't be said that we're 'all about the Environment'. Here in Lewisham, at Westminster and in Europe, the Green Party has effective and well-costed answers to the political questions of today, and that message of fairness is at the core of our policies.

Our election manifesto can be found online at http://www.greenparty.org.uk/assets/files/resources/Manifesto_web_file.pdf

Here at Telegraph Hill Green Party we'd encourage anybody to read it and see for themselves what Greens really have to say about the NHS, crime, economics and all those other issues that aren't environmental with a capital 'E'...