WALTHAM FOREST: Council leader holds on to power (From East London and West Essex Guardian Series)

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WALTHAM FOREST: Council leader holds on to power

8:55am Wednesday 7th May 2008

comment Comments (32) Have your say »

By Sarah Cosgrove »

CLYDE Loakes has held on to power as council leader.

The head of the Labour group was challenged by the cabinet member for community safety, Cllr Afzal Akram.

The 25 Labour councillors voted on who they wanted to be leader at last night's annual general meeting (AGM).

Cllr Loakes polled 15 votes to Cllr Akram's 10.

Cllr Loakes has been in charge of the Labour group of councillors for five years, and this is the first time he has been challenged.

The contest could mean a reshuffle in the cabinet.

Who gets which job will be decided at the Labour group's second stage AGM, to be held next Thursday.

Neither Cllr Loakes or Cllr Akram were available for comment this morning.

Although Cllr Loakes remains council leader, the balance of power still hangs on whether the Liberal Democrat group remain part of the Lab-Lib power sharing coalition.

Their AGM will be held on May 12.

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Mr khalid, walthamstow says...
11:01am Wed 7 May 08

this lokes rubish leder concil becose he do no think for the parsons. it time for the chenge and now he scered becose the boris meyers go to show he faces in the walthamstow

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Observer, says...
12:02pm Wed 7 May 08

Go on Cllr Akram, at least one of the lemmings in the Waltham Forest Labour councillors has seen the future. They're totally mad to have stuck with this unpopular "leader". Look what happened to Ken Livingstone. The Liberal Democrats now know where the country's headed and it ain't with Labour.

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Fed Up, Walthamstow says...
1:04pm Wed 7 May 08

Now if only the Lib Dems had the courage to stop propping up this failing administration and ditch Labour we could actually get a council which might improve. Recent events have shown that the future is not with Labour

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Not Mr Khail, E17 says...
1:23pm Wed 7 May 08

Honestly, if you had lived in other boroughs you would know how well Waltham Forest has done under Loakes. It was a disaster before he took over.

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Observer, says...
2:16pm Wed 7 May 08

"Posted by: Not Mr Khail, E17 on 1:23pm today
Honestly, if you had lived in other boroughs you would know how well Waltham Forest has done under Loakes. It was a disaster before he took over.
Honestly, if you had lived in other boroughs you would know how well Waltham Forest has done under Loakes. It was a disaster before he took over."

I see Camden got its inspection results yesterday - top marks for everything and the Chief Executive herself puts this down to the Lib/Tory coalition that took over after 40 years of Labour domination!!!! Matt Davis is a bright light. I cannot understand why the Liberals are even dithering.

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technomist, Walthamstow says...
4:15pm Wed 7 May 08

So three labour councillors wouldn't ditch him and so have kept him in power. Not much of an accolade for Mr Loakes is it?

I think the LibDems should take serious note of how unstable the Labour group is, as well as the fact that nationally less than one in four people were prepared to vote Labour in the reecnt polls, let alone how clear the mood for change is in London. I also think they should be well aware of how strong local feeling is against the current Loakes administration.

Maybe they should put us all out of our misery and pull the plug on Loakes. I don't think local people would forgive them for propping up this inept and tiny clique.

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INFOrmer, Waltham Forest says...
4:41pm Wed 7 May 08

The Lib Dems aren't that stable either. They are having a Leadership Challenge on 12th May 2008.

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Caroline, Walthamstow says...
5:04pm Wed 7 May 08

"The Lib Dems aren't that stable either. They are having a Leadership Challenge on 12th May 2008".

Let's hope Cllr Macklin romps home. It's this borough's only hope!

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technomist, walthamstow says...
5:16pm Wed 7 May 08

INFOrmer- that's very interesting. I think Mr Rainer will have to work hard to convince people that his current close relationship with Mr Loakes is in the interests of the LibDems as a party or of the public as a whole.

If it is Mr Macklin who is standing, I can say I met him once and was quite impressed. He has to be one of the smartest of the local councillors and would make a good leader of the council if he ever got the chance.

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INFOrmer, Waltham Forest says...
8:39pm Wed 7 May 08

John Macklin is smart. He is a University lecturer. He has intimated that if he wins he will continue the coalition with Labour as the Lib Dems will lose support in Walthamstow and Leyton(stone) if they are associated with the Tories.

I am an active member of the Labour Party and I still think that Labour has the most to offer Waltham Forest, although we have ignored Chingford for too long.

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Observer, says...
9:55pm Wed 7 May 08

I hate to rain your parade, informer but just where have you been over the last week? The future's bright, the future's Tory!

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INFOrmer, Waltham Forest says...
10:24pm Wed 7 May 08

Observer, I agree with you. However, I think that there is a need to differentiate between local and national governance. The Tories may be good for the nation but the local demographic and socio-economic structure of Waltham Forest is ideal for a good local Labour council.

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INFOrmer, Waltham Forest says...
10:27pm Wed 7 May 08

Just to add to the above. I think that with the right local policies and some hard work implementing those policies we can show that we really do care for the residents of Waltham Forest and we may even win control of the council in 2010.

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Observer, says...
10:40pm Wed 7 May 08

Under Loakes Labour's winning nothing in this borough. Shame you can't see that, Informer...

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Sceptic, E17 says...
11:56pm Wed 7 May 08

Not Mr Khail wrote:
Honestly, if you had lived in other boroughs you would know how well Waltham Forest has done under Loakes. It was a disaster before he took over.

Walthamstow was not a disaster in the 1990s. We had good shops, a thriving market, cinema, theatre and plenty of well-used public buildings. It has only become a disaster in the past few years.

The rot may have started before Clyde Loakes seized power, but he has done nothing to reverse it. The loss of the cinema and the blighting of the Hoe/High Street shopping arcade began under his predecessor Buckley, and continue under Loakes. Most of the other destruction we now endure has started since Clyde Loakes took power.
He takes pride in ignoring local people - apparently he thinks it makes him look tough.
We deserve better than this.

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Mr. T. C. Hull, Walthamstow says...
12:45am Thu 8 May 08

Sceptic wrote:

Not Mr Khail wrote: Honestly, if you had lived in other boroughs you would know how well Waltham Forest has done under Loakes. It was a disaster before he took over.
Walthamstow was not a disaster in the 1990s. We had good shops, a thriving market, cinema, theatre and plenty of well-used public buildings. It has only become a disaster in the past few years. The rot may have started before Clyde Loakes seized power, but he has done nothing to reverse it. The loss of the cinema and the blighting of the Hoe/High Street shopping arcade began under his predecessor Buckley, and continue under Loakes. Most of the other destruction we now endure has started since Clyde Loakes took power. He takes pride in ignoring local people - apparently he thinks it makes him look tough. We deserve better than this.

Oh Sceptic! Why did you have to mention
'Barmy Buckley' just
when I'd forgotten all about his reign of terror in this Borough?

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peckish, walthamstow says...
4:42am Thu 8 May 08

I a not so sure Walthamstow has yet rotten to its core. I like to think of it as a fine cheddar that just needs a bit of air to breath. Yes, there is currrenty a bit of mould on the surface, but that can be scraped off and thrown away: underneath there is a very tasty place, just waiting for some branston pickle and some good fresh bread.

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Sceptic, E17 says...
3:26pm Thu 8 May 08

I am a lifelong Labour supporter who finds this council so disgusting that I would vote for almost anyone who could get them out.

Most people I know feel the same way. Are the Lib Dems really so unaware of public opinion?

The Lib Dems are not upholding liberal or left-wing principles by supporting this bunch. Leading a Lib Dem-Tory coalition would be the progressive move, allowing the Lib Dems to actually apply their principles.

Plenty of non-Tories would applaud the Lib Dems for withdrawing their undeserved support from this shameless so-called 'Labour' group.

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INFOrmer, Waltham Forest says...
4:55pm Thu 8 May 08

A question for Sceptic, if I may.

As a lifelong Labour supporter, if the current Labour group demonstrated policies and performance that showed a willingness to do the right thing for Waltham Forest and revert back to core Labour values, would you support them in 2010?

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Observer, says...
5:08pm Thu 8 May 08

"A question for Sceptic, if I may.

As a lifelong Labour supporter, if the current Labour group demonstrated policies and performance that showed a willingness to do the right thing for Waltham Forest and revert back to core Labour values, would you support them in 2010?"

You don't quite understand do you? The problem in this borough is not Labour, it Labour UNDER CLYDE LOAKES. Get rid of him and your party might actually win some support back. Personally, I'm hoping the Liberals do the right thing and end Loakes' "career" sooner rather than later.

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mdj, e10 says...
10:20pm Thu 8 May 08

Dear INFOrmer,
If a good local Labour party was on offer, people would be voting for it! What is curious and sad about the vocal and inventive protests of the last year or so, triggered initially by the shameful changes at the William Morris Gallery, is that they come from people who previously would have been pretty safe bets to support Labour on election day.
When a party needs to produce a disgusting periodical like Waltham Forest News to promote its own PC agenda at the public expense, you know that it's rotten inside.
Labour has become the willing vehicle for the lumpen-graduate consultancy class, student Stalinists now in sharp suits, who must be fed with lucrative sinecures whatever is going wrong on the front line, and people are sick of it. It will take a decade of political punishment before Labour cleans up its act, if ever. The real crisis is that the mainstream alternatives are no better: this is where extremism breeds, and I'm worried.

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Sceptic, E17 says...
11:57am Fri 9 May 08

INFOrmer wrote:
A question for Sceptic, if I may.

As a lifelong Labour supporter, if the current Labour group demonstrated policies and performance that showed a willingness to do the right thing for Waltham Forest and revert back to core Labour values, would you support them in 2010?

I wouldn't just support them, INFOrmer, I'd be campaigning for them!

But it won't happen while the Labour group is still infested with careerists and other parasites - no one changes that much. Nor while this mob is propped up by the Lib Dems, who seem to have forgotten what their principles once were.

To be honest, I don't know the quality of most of the rest of the councillors - they seem like a bunch of nodding dogs. But getting rid a relatively small number, including Clyde Loakes of course, might give them a chance to show what they're worth.

People may be sick of the 'New Labour' government nationally, but at the local level councillors still have a chance of being elected on their merits. I know there's a big problem with 'crony voting' here, but that would be outweighed if you got enough honest people to the polls. And you'll get more people voting if they feel they've got a chance of making a difference.

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Martin, Walthamstow says...
8:40am Sat 10 May 08

Observer wrote:
I hate to rain your parade, informer but just where have you been over the last week? The future's bright, the future's Tory!

Have you actually met any of the borough's Tories Observer? I wouldn't trust them to run a bath, let alone the place where I live!

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technomist, walthamstow says...
1:29pm Sat 10 May 08

Some of the recent Conservative budget proposals showed a genuine effort to help sort out some of the problems of the the Borough and perhaps should have been given more consideration before they were rejected.

Martin may not like the idea of Tories having a say in how Walthamstow is run, but think how frustrating it must be if you have voted year after year for a Conservative representative in Chingford and had your views on the way the Borough is managed consistently ignored while a clique in Labour (which is only made up of 15 out of 25 labour councillors itself) hogs all the power.

There really ought to be a way of breaking down the tribal party barriers and getting a team of talented people from all the parties to co-operate with each other and get this place out of the mess Loakes has got it into.

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Sceptic, E17 says...
3:06pm Sat 10 May 08

technomist, I like your idea of an all-party group co-operating to rescue the borough.

I was hoping that the Lib Dems would come to their senses, or rediscover their principles, and walk away from this discredited New Labour group.

They're still saying Lib Dem principles fit best with Labour. That was certainly true long ago. But they don't seem to have noticed what the 'Labour' Party has turned into!

So the Lib Dems go on propping up a 'Labour' group that cuts services to raise councillors' pay, and pours money into consultations which it then ignores.

It reminds me of Tony Blair fawning on George Bush.

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gary, e17 says...
9:29pm Sat 10 May 08

The problems of this borough, poor and expensive housing, social problems like most other areas and poor literacy/financial literacy cannot be solved by the Council itself, the council and Clyde personally get blamed for the cinema situation but my recollection is that it was sold because it was not viable as a cinema as no one used it. I saw a few films with three other people in the audience and while it was cheap it was not up to date, this is why it closed.

Post Ofices are under threat for the same reason, we all complain but didn't use them so they become at risk, there is as pattern here.

In my view there could be more investment in advice serviecs and recycling to improve residents lives, the recycling drives me mad.

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technomist, walthamstow says...
10:44am Sun 11 May 08

Gary, you are very right that if don't use things we lose them. But there is more to it than just investment needed, as much as that is true. We need a borough where it feels safe at all times of day and night to go out on the streets and in the parks, where there is a vibrant culture and people are civil and friendly to each other, and where people feel they have a stake in their surroundings.

Behind all change which are necessary, though, is the need to get the local economy back on its feet and moving and good govenance re-installed in our local authority.

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mdj, e10 says...
6:09pm Sun 11 May 08

In last week's election Loughton returned 3 or 4 independents, motivated by a local issue. In Wales, I read that after Labour, Independents are the biggest single category of Councillor. I know that Independent can be code for Tory in places where Tories are otherwise unlelectable, but there may be a way forward here. How often have we encountered politicians early in their career who seem forthright, sceptical and clear-thinking, and after a few years are clones chanting the brain-dead mantras of the party machine? Keep them outside the machine, and there might be some hope.

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Dave Hall, Walthamstow says...
6:49pm Sun 11 May 08

That's an interesting idea, mdj. I remember when I was young, when councillors were NOT paid, many were then Independents. It did make consensus politics easier. We have not got consensus politics in Walthamstow. Many recent changes have been pushed through by Loakes's faction, and many important developments here are likely to go the same way. The only way we can really Fight the Height, save our libraries, save our lovely heritage cinema, keep our theatre, etc., etc, is to remove the labour group from power. If it pushes through all these unpopular measures, people will not forgive the LibDems for keeping them in power.

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technomist, walthamstow says...
2:01am Mon 12 May 08

What would be useful to know is exactly which councillors voted to keep Loakes in charge of the Labour group, as I think these people should be identified publicly so everyone in the Borough knows who the culprits are. It would do them no harm to know that people are watching them closely. They ought to have to explain themselves to the people of this Borough and
also subjected to some specific scrutiny regarding their activities and voting patterns on the council.

Perhaps this august newspaper could help by publishing some names and allegiences.

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INFOrmer, Waltham Forest says...
11:15pm Mon 12 May 08

Macklin has beaten Raynor for Lib Dem Leadership.

I know the names of the 15 members who voted for Clyde to be leader, however as it was a secret ballot they would just deny it.

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technomist, walthamstow says...
4:27pm Tue 13 May 08

Well done Mr Mcklin. Was it bloody? Or are the LibDems more civilised about these things these days?

Thanks for that news, INFOrmer. So its a secret ballot that Loakes survived? Lets them off the hook a bit doesn't it?- And they'll be able to pretend they didn't vote for him later on. That's democracy in action for you.

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