Labour Party Verdict on Cllr Sheila Peacock?

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Permalink Reply by neil 7 hours ago

Gaffs or not, she should retire, put her feet up and spend time with the grandkids. She must have a demonic grip over the local party machinery for them to select her again ? 

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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter 6 hours ago

Neil, on that demonic grip:

There are some good and decent Labour Councillors in Haringey.

Too often however, this Party selects candidates largely on their ability to attract groups of voters identified by race or religion, rather than a general appeal that transcends ethnicity, nationality etc.

This is consistent with the current leader's fondness for Identity Politics.

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Permalink Reply by neil 6 hours ago

Sure, I know two of them (good councillors). As a general point, surely there needs to be an age limit for standing.  If councillors spend more time protesting about Palestine than traffic in the borough, that's a red flag as well. 

I don't care that much for peoples' affiliations so long as they do a decent job taking up local issues and defending their wards. 

I used to be political but I've given up with it. Caring about local issues and trying to add value to the community is more rewarding. 

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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter 5 hours ago

Neil, following Alan Stanton's reference to the Pickwick Papers and being lazy—not wishing to look up Dickens' discussion on the Eatonswill election—I asked ChatGT for a summary. Not all of the following will describe the Haringey local election in May 2026 ~

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In The Pickwick Papers (1836–37), Dickens gives a sharply comic and satirical portrait of the Eatonswill election, mocking the corruption, hypocrisy and rowdiness of contemporary English elections.

Briefly, Dickens shows that Eatonswill’s candidates are:

• Party puppets, supported not for merit but because they belong to the Buffs or the Blues (the town’s rival political factions).

• Shamelessly flattering, each promising whatever their supporters want to hear.

• Surrounded by bribery, drunkenness and mob violence, with free beer, paid crowds and inflammatory speeches.

• More interested in spectacle than substance, with insults, parades, and propaganda leaflets replacing any real policies.

Through Mr. Pickwick’s horrified observations, Dickens ridicules the entire process, implying that neither candidate is genuinely worthy — they are simply figureheads in a noisy, corrupt, and farcical system.

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