Waltham Forest News RSS Feed Send your news, pictures & videos


WALTHAM FOREST: Loakes admits he is "paper candidate"

1:54pm Wednesday 17th March 2010 in


FORMER council leader Clyde Loakes has admitted he is merely a “paper candidate”, with no realistic prospect of winning the parliamentary seat of Northampton South for Labour.

Cllr Loakes stood down as council leader in May to concentrate his efforts on the midlands seat.

But he has now admitted he is unlikely to win the seat, which is currently held by the Conservatives with a 4,419 majority.

He said: “It is no longer classed as a marginal seat.

“I am doing this for the experience.”

The Guardian understands relations between Cllr Loakes and Northampton South constituency party activists have broken down amid anger at the amount of time Cllr Loakes has spent away from the area and about the fact he is seeking re-election to the council.

Cllr Loakes admitted there are "complex issues” with the constituency party.

Click here to follow the Waltham Forest Guardian on Twitter

Comments(12)

Dave Hall says...
2:40pm Wed 17 Mar 10

All reactionaries are paper tigers: superficially powerful, but overextension leads to complete collapse (it says 'ere).

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

Morris Hickey says...
2:41pm Wed 17 Mar 10

With luck the paper will end up by being shredded.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

Touchwood says...
2:43pm Wed 17 Mar 10

I don't blame them for being angry with with 'Loakes the Joke'!

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

NT says...
3:59pm Wed 17 Mar 10

'When four Cabinet members of Labour-controlled Waltham Forest council learnt they would break the law by not following EU procurement rules when they awarded a three-year extension of a recycling contract, worth £2.5m, to private company ECT, they did what any upstanding public servants would do in their shoes - they went ahead, then hushed it up.

The four - Cllrs Liaquat Ali, Keith Rayner, Chris Robbins and Clyde Loakes - decided it would "not be in the public interest" to disclose the truth. Just fancy that! Loakes, former leader of the council, is Labour's prospective parliamentary candidate for Northampton South at the general election. Robbins is the council's leader.

An inquiry by the council's anti-fraud team observed that "a request for a bank loan of £20,000 would require more justification than this". Investigators also noted that "it is difficult to understand how LBWF expects to uphold the law when its own Cabinet deliberately breaks it". Indeed'.

Private Eye, 19 March 2010, p.14

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

Swing Queen says...
4:02pm Wed 17 Mar 10

Although the Conservatives had a 4,419 majority in 2005, (as reported in the article) this seat should be a much better prospect for Labour thanks to boundary changes which give it a notional Labour majority of over 2000. It is target 36 for the conservatives but their MP/candidate has recently faced considerable criticism over expenses. If this isn't a marginal seat then where is?

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

wfveritas says...
4:04pm Wed 17 Mar 10

So Mr Loakes has stopped hedging his bets on getting elected in Northampton South and is now concentrating on Leytonstone ward? I'm sure Leytonstone residents are relieved!!!
But wait... a little reseach shows that Mr Loakes is not alone.
http://enfieldlibdem
s.org.uk/news/000394
/enfield_ppcs_select
ed.html.
Hopefully, High Street ward residents will be asking Mr Khan where his allegiance lies?
The research continues.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

Techno2 says...
4:58pm Wed 17 Mar 10

wfveritas wrote:
So Mr Loakes has stopped hedging his bets on getting elected in Northampton South and is now concentrating on Leytonstone ward? I'm sure Leytonstone residents are relieved!!! But wait... a little reseach shows that Mr Loakes is not alone. http://enfieldlibdem s.org.uk/news/000394 /enfield_ppcs_select ed.html. Hopefully, High Street ward residents will be asking Mr Khan where his allegiance lies? The research continues.
Now there is an election coming up he is presumably going to turn up to his ward surgeries so they can do that.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

jack de large says...
6:06pm Wed 17 Mar 10

It must say something about how interested the Labour/Liberal Democrat councillors are in Waltham Forest, they have three PPCs, in Reading west, Enfield & Southgate and Northampton South. The Conservatives have two PPCs, Ed Northover for Leyton & Wanstead and Andrew Hempstead for Walthamstow. Food for thought!

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

Techno2 says...
7:37pm Wed 17 Mar 10

jack de large wrote:
It must say something about how interested the Labour/Liberal Democrat councillors are in Waltham Forest, they have three PPCs, in Reading west, Enfield & Southgate and Northampton South. The Conservatives have two PPCs, Ed Northover for Leyton & Wanstead and Andrew Hempstead for Walthamstow. Food for thought!
I don't know how much efforts all these other ambitious people are putting in to get elected to Parliament, but can't see how Andy Hemsted can think he stands any chance in Walthamstow given the lack of effort he has put in so far.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

jack de large says...
10:06pm Wed 17 Mar 10

But aren't the Tories always criticised for not being interested in Walthamstow, leyton & Leytonstone, I can't comment on Cllr Hemsted's campaign but at least he's here.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

stevewhite says...
10:08pm Wed 17 Mar 10

I don't know why people have a go at these hard working, publically spirited men. Chris Robbins is after all not very physically fit, or at least that must be the explanation. I say this because he finds it a great effort to walk to community councils even in his own ward. Clive is equally marvelous. He once gave a talk in a local school about democracy don't you know. Democracy is very important he said. Not long after that he ignored local peoples views and went ahead with a new academy in the borough. Oh how I remember it well, as he walked past all the people that he represented who were protesting about the school. I for one, will not hear a bad word said against either of them.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

Techno2 says...
2:03pm Thu 18 Mar 10

jack de large wrote:
But aren't the Tories always criticised for not being interested in Walthamstow, leyton & Leytonstone, I can't comment on Cllr Hemsted's campaign but at least he's here.
In Chingford. Which presumably explains why we never see him in Walthamstow.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

More Waltham Forest News stories


Most popular







Local Information

Enter your postcode, town or place name

House prices »   Schools »   Crime »   Hospitals »

Local Businesses