It feels a bit like waking up with a hangover but without the headache!

Thank you so much for all the hard work and support that was put into our campaign.

It is important to recognise the unique nature of this set of London elections set against the context of the national picture. If the London picture were reflected nationally we would have cause for concern and for being despondent but not a bit of it!

We have had one of the best ever results nationally and this is a major boost for our new leader, Nick Clegg. Four years ago we picked up a lot of support from those who, like me, were disgusted at the illegal war in Iraq.

For us to improve our position nationally, as we did on Thursday, is a triumph for the party and I am immensely proud to call myself a Liberal Democrat despite the London results.

Many Londoners had had enough of Ken Livingstone and believed, encouraged by the press, that the only way to get rid of him was to vote Tory. Many other Londoners saw the imminent danger of having Boris Johnson as Mayor, encouraged by the opinion polls, and defected to Labour. The staggering number of spoilt ballot papers showed that people did not understand the voting system and simply went all out for either Labour or the Tories.

I spoke to Tony Travers last night, the academic and independent commentator on London politics, who told me that we had done very well indeed in all the circumstances and that we should be proud of our performance (and Tony is no friend of the Liberal Democrats).

As I kept saying during the campaign, in the 15 or so London by-elections between September last year and April, right across the capital, what Londoners really feel about us came through:

Liberal Democrats 36%
Conservatives 28%
Labour 25%

We got squeezed between two political monsters in a way we had never seen before. We did our best. We need to get off the floor, brush ourselves down and get back to our usual winning ways. I hope to join as many of you as possible in Crewe - we have a Parliamentary by-election to win! Details are at www.elizabethshenton.com

Apparently the best thing to do when you get thrown by a horse is get back in the saddle as soon as possible, although I wouldn’t know one end of a horse from another!

Thanks again everyone.

With every best wishes,

Brian

“Broken promises are what we expect from politicians once they are in office, but it looks like Boris has jumped the gun.

“We know from experience not to trust Ken Livingstone, but now it appears that Boris and Ken are as bad as each other.

“We have had enough of career politicians, what Londoners need is someone with integrity who is genuinely committed to London.”

I say that because I am in the same position as other ordinary Londoners; I know exactly how you feel. The dilemma is reflected in the high number of undecided voters in yesterday’s YouGov poll - 13 per cent of the total. This is a race where political cynicism and party loyalty are unnecessarily limiting people’s choices.

For instance, a smartly dressed black woman stopped me in Westminster the other day. “I want to vote for you but I’m a Conservative, through and through,” she explained. Not “Boris has the best policies” but “I’m a Conservative”.

But what kind of Conservative is Boris? When he explained that he wanted to give an amnesty to illegal immigrants in London, David Cameron, the Conservative leader, described Boris as “his own man”, code for “I do not agree with him”. Yet in other ways Boris seems to hail from another era, making racially and religiously insensitive remarks worthy of a Tory party long since left behind. It is not that Boris Johnson is to the Left or the Right of the new Conservative Party - he is all over the place.

Click here to read the full article on from the Evening Standard.

Cllr Martin Newton, Lib Dem Environment Spokesperson, comments:

“Haringey Council should be embarrassed that our borough has been tarred with the dirtiest local authority in Britain badge. This is not a title we should be proud of. Once again it is the failure of the Labour-run Council to tackle a problem that residents want them to solve. If they can’t keep our streets clean then what can we trust them to do?”

Lynne Featherstone, MP for Hornsey and Wood Green adds:

“Street cleaning the number one service that affects the quality of life of every local resident. Haringey Council spends thousands of pounds on advertising ‘Better Haringey’ it’s a shame they cannot deliver it. It is a disgrace that Haringey Labour cannot get this basic service right.”

Vincent Cable said: “these are encouraging figures and trends. There is little doubt that the build up of safer neighbourhood teams in each of the wards and the increase in police numbers over the last decade has done a great deal to reduce crime. But complacency is not in order. There is still a good deal of public anxiety about crime. And detection rates – 25% overall and 20% for burglary and personal robbery – is still very low despite recent improvements”.

Vincent Cable, MP, who – like other MPs – has been lobbied by local restaurant owners – said:

“Under the new rules skill levels and language requirements are specified in such a way that Chinese or South Asian chefs would not qualify. It is unlikely that non-ethnic Chinese or Asians will want, or be able, to offer specialist cooking skills. There is a real concern that this popular part of the eating out, and take-away, culture can survive unless the government is more flexible. This is one of the many practical problems which arise when the government feels it has to respond to panic in the national press by showing that it is ‘tough on immigration’.”

Missing Idiot

The Ken and Friends World Tour

The Hornsey and Wood Green MP wrote to Trevor Phillips, chair of the EHRC, after Lady Louise was pushed back from eight to ninth in line to the throne, following the birth of her baby brother in December last year. The response, acknowledging the practice as discriminatory, earlier this week triggered the Solicitor General to propose that abolition of the practice be included in the Single Equality Act, which will pass through the Commons later this year.

Lynne Featherstone comments:

“The Government seems to have finally realised the importance of equality at all levels of society.

“We can’t have a law that is meant to fight discrimination and injustice, but allows a blatantly sexist law on royal succession to continue.

“This is the perfect time to change the law when there is no one who will be personally affected. It shouldn’t create a hue and cry.

“Let’s confine this outdated message that men are better than women to the dustbin of history.”

Brian visited BedZed, the UK’s best known zero/low energy housing development. Mr Paddick was met by Matt Sullivan of Bioregional and shown round the development.

He then met Mr Patel, the postmaster of the Post Office at  7-9 Seymour Road, Mitcham Junction, whose Post Office is threatened with closure under the Royal Mail’s latest plan to close 20% of London’s post offices. This closure is despite the premises being fully accessible due to recent substantial investment in the premises. Brian and Tom, the party’s London spokesman, are campaigning to keep post offices open across the capital. Commenting Mr Brake said;

“It’s appalling that Postmaster’s have invested heavily in their business premises, to make their Post Offices easily accessible and now their Post Offices are threatened with closure. This has to stop.”

Mr Paddick then met a group of Senior Citizens at the All Saints Centre, New Road to discuss issues concerning them, before finishing his whistle-stop tour with lunch at a local cafe.