Councillor Tony Belton’s Battersea July 2024, Newsletter (# 181)
- My June diary was entirely disrupted by the bizarre timing of the General Election – so all plans were out of the window. As far as Labour members have been concerned, it has been all hands to the pumps since then (22/5/24). But not, so it seems, as
far as our opponents are concerned. Here in Battersea, there has been almost no sign of Tory, Lib/Dem, Green or Reform activity. The truth, of course, is that it is difficult to exhort the troops into action when all the leaders seem to have decided that Labour is the certain winner. 1997 was like this, and not just in retrospect – I am on record expecting Blair to win by a majority of 150 – his actual victory was 179! I acknowledge that there is not the same enthusiasm for Keir Starmer, pictured here at the party leadership hustings in 2020, and Labour as there was then for Tony Blair and New Labour – but equally there was not the same despair about John Major and the Tories as there is about Rishi Sunak and the current no-hopers representing the Tories. What are the odds on Starmer’s majority being even larger than Blair’s 179?
- On the 5th June, I went to the unveiling of the Charlotte Despard Plaque in the Nine Elms Linear Park. This was the culmination of years of campaigning by Jeanne Rathbone, who wants Wandsworth to have as many plaques commemorating women as there are commemorating men. And in particular, Jeanne has long wanted one to commemorate Despard. Charlotte was an Irish nationalist, republican, rich, suffragist, philanthropic radical,
who in the 1920s spent much of her time and money doing good works for the poor of Nine Elms, at a time when they really were distressingly poor. I think Charlotte, herself, would have recognised the irony of unveiling a plaque to her within a stone’s throw of the US Embassy surrounded, as it is by some of the most expensive and exclusive properties in London. She would have been particularly bemused or horrified by the reception, held in the Skypool complex 200 feet above ground level. My guess is that the pool will be the most expensive, under-used pool in London – spectacularly so, as in the picture.
- The occasion was notable for Mary McAleese’s The past President of Ireland, who confessed her total ignorance of Charlotte Despard, before being invited
to attend this unveiling, honoured the occasion with a quietly powerful speech. Referring to Despard’s relationship with Mahatma Gandhi, McAleese made a truly memorable plea for the cause of all peoples across the world suffering from the twin disasters of climate change and war. It was a speech full of careful consideration and feeling for people suffering whether in Gaza, Ukraine, Myanmar or Sudan. It was very special for a quiet, cool, not well-attended Wednesday evening in a London suburb.
- June 11th was the day of Sean Creighton’s funeral held at Lambeth Crematorium, Blackshaw Road, followed by a wake at La Gothique. Sean, accompanied by his wife Ann, was a big figure in the Battersea Labour Party in the 1980s and 90s. He was a Labour councillor
representing the old Fairfield ward in the years 1982-86. Being an elected councillor did not, however, come naturally to Sean. Frankly, he found it difficult always to follow the party line – and as I was the Labour Leader at the time that was often my line! (At the time he lived 200 yards from Wandsworth Town Hall and he and I often addressed our differences over a friendly bottle of wine, with Ann adjudicating.) Sean was more of an activist and a chronicler, than a party politician. He was the secretary of more organisations than anyone I ever knew, including the Prisoners Education Trust and a Northumberland Historical trust (Sic!). Sean and his bookstall were a feature outside many a local history and/or Labour conference anywhere in the country for a dozen years. Sean was an activist, archivist, campaigning, eccentric individualist: in short one of a kind. RIP, Sean Creighton.
- Off to Winchester on the 15th for a splendid party thrown by our niece, Melissa. The city, the Saxon capital of England, always leaves me confused between Kings
Arthur and Alfred, one of whom managed to burn cakes but then also to unite the ancient regions of England into one kingdom, whilst the other mythically sat at a round table with his knights – or was it the other way round? The Round Table really does exist. It is very large and hangs high in a grand ceremonial hall – it looks like a rose window in this picture. It was, however, built in 1290 for a royal tournament in honour of the Arthurian legend – the tournament must have been a late flourish of Ye Olde Merrie England not long before the Black Death of 1348.
- On the 18th Penny and I went to the Jermyn Street Theatre to see Being Mr Wickham. The theatre itself was fascinating, literally a stone’s throw from Piccadilly. With an audience capacity of 70, it must be the most intimate of West End theatres. The one-man, one-hour play was written, created, and acted by Adrian Lukis, – the very man who acted the disreputable
George Wickham opposite Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth as Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy in the seminal 1996 BBC production of Pride and Prejudice. Lukis had clearly spent much of the intervening 28 years being George Wickham, imagining a variation of possible futures from Hogarth’s Rakes Progress to the version depicted in the play. Witty and clever, this personal after-dinner history was just right for such an intimate space, where he described how dull life must be for Elizabeth living with that dreadfully priggish bore Darcy – a life so unlike the well-lived one that he, Wickham, shared with fun-loving Lydia. The script was littered with acerbic references to Mr. Collins, the other Bennett girls and of course to Mr & Mrs Bennett themselves. Both George and Adrian seem to have done alright for themselves. Nice one, Adrian.
- The Planning (PAC) Applications Committee was held on the 20th Again, it was, thanks partly to the imminent General Election, a quiet committee. There was, however, one application, which will concern devotees of Northcote Road, and that was to demolish and rebuild 78 Northcote Road. No 78 has, in the recent past, been variously Downings restaurant,
a Tapas bar and currently the Soi Thai restaurant. When, or perhaps if, it is demolished, there will be many concerned posts hitting social media. But, unfortunately or not, local authorities do not have the power to prevent demolition of any property if it is neither specifically protected nor within a conservation area. However, let me re-assure readers that the replacement will complement the terrace – in case you had not previously noticed the current building is one floor lower than the rest of the terrace, more of a gap tooth than a sore thumb. The replacement is planned to be the same height, have slightly more living accommodation, and, of course, modern plumbing, etc. No. 78 is on the left of this Northcote Road terrace and is clearly one storey lower than its nineteenth-century fellows.
- On 21st June, Penny and I had the pleasure of going to the retirement dinner of Oxford University Chancellor, Chris Patten, at Keble College. It was held in Keble’s grand and magnificent Hall and the occasion was as splendid as one might expect. Chris spoke of how Oxford “made him” and, as ever, laced his speech with many personal anecdotes. He also made it clear that whilst no longer free to vote – as Lord Patten of Barnes he is disqualified – if he could vote he would not vote for anyone who had supported Brexit. Quite a journey from being a senior member of the Cabinet to a major critic of the current Tory Government – even if it took 30 years to do it.
- The next morning, we went for a delightful walk round the
University Parks. It was absolutely beautiful – notable for the re-wilding along the River Cherwell – very different as I recall it from the well-mown lawns of the Parks in the 1960s. We enjoyed both the wild and the cultivated flowers, and the couple of thousand Park Fun Runners.
- Meanwhile, a team of us, 6-8 strong, have been meeting at 8am every weekday, as the organising committee of the Battersea Labour Party’s election campaign. We all have our allocated responsibilities, from running the canvassing, to organising the digital campaign, from mobilising the volunteers to writing the campaign materials, from looking after the candidate to ensuring the money is available. As the Battersea LP Treasurer, I am “the money”, which this year has been, I have to admit, the cushy number. It is all so very different from an election run in 1997, and as for 1970 well words ……. Technology has changed absolutely everything. In 1970 every constituency largely did its own thing, in its own way. The 8am Zoom meetings would not have been possible; the party could not have moved resources from London constituencies to the Midlands or even, as happened recently, to Scotland – they would not have the data that both enabled and inspired the move. Today, in theory (and in practice) the “boss” knows every morning how many canvass contacts were made last night across the whole of the UK, how many were so-called Labour promises, how many were not. I must confess to a little nostalgia for the more intuitive approach that we used the day before yesterday.
- On the evening of the 23rd I attended an election-hustings meeting at St. Michael’s, Wandsworth Common. There were about 40 members of the public there to hear from the Green, Labour and Tory candidates – the Lib/Dems were invited but were a “no show”. What weird occasions these are. The public included about 25 party members – there simply to support their candidates and ask friendly questions. Half of us knew the other half – I even swopped notes with the Leader of the Tory opposition on Wandsworth Council as to who did best between my Marsha de Cordova (MdC) and his Tom Pridham. For what it is worth, I thought that MdC won by a country mile, but I also thought that given the event was set-up on a “green and very wet pitch” that Tory Tom Pridham did well – disagreed with every word, of course but that’s politics. Just one tip for the Green candidate – if you think that we are all bound to hell in a handcart (as you and I both do) then at least add some gallows humour to your presentation. Total misery is a bit of a turn-off.
- There was one final hustings, on 26th June, this time in the new church on Plough Road. Personal confession here – I was part of MdC’s preparation team. We spent an hour in the afternoon talking through the likely questions and MdC’s possible replies – and it worked. Marsha was excellent that evening and on this occasion all the other candidates, including the Lib/Dems, Reform, and the Workers’ Party, virtually conceded that Marsha de Cordova won the debate comfortably.
My July Programme
- July 4th is the big election day. I will be in Battersea Park Ward for most of the 15 hours of election day – like many other activists across the UK. We will all want a high turn-out and most of us will be VOTING for a CHANGE away from our current, pathetic and ineffective government.
- The Planning Applications Committee is on 18th
- We are off to Killarney and the Kerry Ring from 19th-25th July and
- Back to Maynooth, near Dublin, for an Executive Committee of the International Society for Eighteenth Century Studies from 25th-28th
- And I will, therefore, have to give my apologies for the Council Meeting on 24th July and the Environment Committee on 27th
Did you know?
Last month, I asked if we could list all Battersea’s MPs, from 1900. And I started with John Burns (1892-1918) and Marsha de Cordova (2017- ). I am afraid that quiz obviously did not appeal to many of you, indeed I got only one reply. But that one from Roy, was very good and very detailed – well done, Roy. His complete list of MPs, with dates, is:-
Battersea – John Burns, Liberal “but obviously also a socialist” 1892-1918
Battersea North Years Battersea South
Richard Morris, Liberal 1918-22 Francis Curzon, Tory
Shapurji Saklatvala, Lab 1922-23 Francis Curzon, Tory
Henry Hogbin, Liberal 1923-24 Francis Curzon, Tory
Shapurji Saklatvala, CP 1924-29 Francis Curzon, Tory
William Sanders, Lab 1929-31 William Bennett, Lab
Arthur Marsden, Tory 1931-35 Sir Harry Selley, Tory
William Sanders, Lab 1935-40 Sir Harry Selley, Tory
Francis Douglas, Lab 1940-45 Sir Harry Selley, Tory
Francis Douglas, Lab 1945-46 Caroline Ganley, Lab
Douglas Jay, Lab 1946-51 Caroline Ganley, Lab
Douglas Jay, Lab 1951-64 Ernest Partridge, Tory
Douglas Jay, Lab 1964-79 Ernie Perry, Lab
Douglas Jay, Lab 1979-83 Alf Dubs, Lab
Battersea
Alf Dubs, Lab 1983-87
John Bowis, Tory 1987-97
Martin Linton, Lab 1997-2010
Jane Ellison, Tory 2010-17
Marsha De Cordova, Lab 2017-
And this month?
And which of those MPs have had buildings or roads or institutions named after them, and which are they?
Tony Belton
Tony Belton 