Councillor Tony Belton’s Battersea, September 2026, Newsletter (# 207)
- August is traditionally the quietist month of the year – council-wise, but not this year. Apart from the inevitable Planning Applications Committee, there was a by-election in Trinity ward, Tooting. (Although my August cataracts operation, which I had expected on 3 August, turned out to be nothing but a pre-op assessment, so now I wait until October!)
- From the moment of the by-election’s declaration both the Labour and the Tory parties threw everything into this fight. Wiith the Council consisting of 29 Tory, 27 Labour councillors, and one independent, all sides including Greens, Liberal/Democrats and Reform knew that this fight, essentially Labour versus Tory, was vital in determining the running of the Council. If Labour were to lose this by-election then Tory control would have been confirmed and assured for the next four years. A Labour victory, however, would continue to leave the Tories dependent upon both Independent Councillor Malcolm Grimston and the Tory Mayor’s casting vote to maintain their tenuous control of the council.
- With Tooting Councillor Sean Lawless firmly in charge, Labour planned to contact each of the 12,000 odd electorate on 15 separate occasions, with either face-to-face or telephone canvassing and literature drops. The campaigning team was, of course, centred on Tooting Labour
party members but included many others from partners, Battersea and Putney, and neighbouring boroughs, Croydon and Merton, and many other London constituency parties. I have seen a few council by-elections in my time but this was the largest, best organised and almost militarily executed of all. Well done Sean – pictured here with Shirin.
- Labour did also have the benefit of an exceptionally capable and personable candidate in Shirin Georgiani. Shirin was a great candidate and, although it was a close run thing, it was no great surprise that she won with 1558 votes to the Tory’s 1431. The Greens, Lib/Dems and Reform cndidates got 168, 75 and 51 votes respectively. Shirin will be as good a councillor as she was a candidate.
- I think that you can draw several lessons from this result.
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- First, that the electorate, or at least the 39.56% of it who actually voted, very well understand, when a vote is potentially critical to the Council’s direction, that they need to vote for the potential winner and not just in protest. Hence there was a 10%+ swing from both the Greens and the Lib/Dems to Labour and Tory – a consolidation of votes around the two ‘big’ parties.
- Second, despite this consolidation clearly at least 20% of the electorate are not totally happy with our first past the post voting system as they showed by voting for the smaller parties when in May they had a ‘free’ choice. They were only prepared to accept an alternative choice, when there frst choice had been effectively eliminated. Interesting, given that Andy Burnham is on record as being in favour of electoral reform.
- Third, that the statistically insignificant swing of 0.1% from Labour to Tory – equivalent to one family of three being away in August and not having arranged a postal vote – shows virtually no change in the Labour:Tory balance in the four months since the Council election.
- Fourth, for every 4 people who voted in the by-election 6 did not vote. Is this a sign of alienation from politics? If so, that does not augur well for the health of our society. Or is it a cynical recognition in our highly centralised state that local by-elections do not really matter.
- Fifth, even at this level of voting the relative result of Greens versus Lib/Dems looks like seriously bad news for the Liberal/Democrats in Wandsworth even if they do well in neighbouring boroughs, such as Kingston and Lambeth.
- It was obvous on the streets and on polling day itself, 27 August, when I met Tories from Chelsea, Kingston and Epsom as well as the locals, that the Tories put in an equivalent effort. Assuming that the Tories had similar plans to ours, then, of course, one probable outcome was irritated electors – certainly I came across a couple of voters who had been canvassed so often that they were almost incandescent with anger. But with 60% of the electorate not actually voting, it is not surprising that both Labour and Tory were fighting for every single extra voter right upto 10 in the evening.
- The rest of my August was taken up in large part with trying to keep cool, checking – what I hope is the last – proof of my book, and attending the 16 August Planning Applications Committee (PAC). PAC had no significant applications to resolve and concluded in just under 30 minutes – something of a record.
- There was, of course, the partial eclipse of the
sun on August 12. Friends of ours went to Northern Spain to see the total eclipse. We did that in 1999 when Pen and I drove east across southern Germany, Austria and into Hungary chasing a clear sky and the total eclipse, which we caught on 11 August. But this year we stayed at home. This photograph, taken in the garden, of tree branches shadowed by the eclipsed sun does not do it justice, but gives a hint of the peculiar quality of shadows, before and after totality.
- And then there was the highly successful Battersea Society social held in the Woodpecker’s secluded garden on 13 August. Was that previously known as the Woodman or was it the Original Woodman? Some might remember that those were the names of the two very adjacent pubs in Battersea High Street. There must be a story there of greed and skulduggery no doubt but as far as I know the story is lost in the midst of time.
- On Friday 21 August we went to see Odysseus at the King’s Road Everyman. I was keen to see this Hollywood blockbuster, but I am afraid that I cannot recommend it to anyone who is thinking of going. I wouldn’t say that I am an expert on Greek mythology but I wouldn’t mind betting that I know more about it than the average audience member, and I had absolutely no idea what was going on half the time. And I know that living room plays as written by Rattigan are a long time passê but I don’t think method acting demanded that the dialogue was virtually indecipherable – very disappointing but on the other hand if you’ve not been to the pictures for a long time then I do recommend giving the Everyman a go. With its personalised service of meals and drinks to ‘coupled’ seats with unhindered views of the screen, I do recommend the cinema for a new experience – but pick a better film!
- The month, however, ended on a high, as Pen and I attended the jazz session of Concert in the Park – Battersea Park, of
course – on 31 August afternoon. It was a fun afternoon, not too hot, not too cool, a couple of thousand people picnicking in the park, plenty of chats, lots of bonhomie. And, of course, the music, even if what we heard was more rock or Latin, than the jazz I had hoped for. Some people, especially the near neighbours, argue that our great public spaces are not the proper location for music festivals. What do you think?
- As normal life resumes after the August
break, we face the return of greater traffic chaos in North Battersea, as we continue to struggle with the problems following the closure of Albert Bridge. You will recall that I promised monthly updates of progress on the Bridge – unfortunately Kensington & Chelsea have failed to send me any so far. I am pressing for news, and continuing to hope that K&C can keep to its timetable of early spring 2027 for the re-opening of the bridge.
- Money for your project? An organisation called Active Thames has, since 1971, distributed over £700,000 of grants to clubs, groups, and organisations for projects aimed at getting active on, in and around the Thames. This month they have asked councillors to encourage organisations to apply for further grants, which are available for application until the closing date of 27 September. If anyone, especially perhaps associated with the Providence Club, or Carney’s Community, or Caius House, is interested then do get in touch with me at tonybelton99@gmail.com and I will steer you in
the right direction.
- Finally let me introduce two other members of the household, Sammy and Sally. They are two-year-olds that we got from the Cats and Dogs Home. They are very affectionate siblings born exactly 2 years ago, and Sam is the black and white one of the pair.
My September Programme
The chaos that has followed the change of political control of the Council has left me frankly uncertain as to the precise details of this month’s calendar. What however is certain is as follows:-
- The Launch of Alf Dubs auto-biography
The Boy with the Knapsack at the Czech Embassy on 2 September. - A North-East Surrey Crematorium Board meeting on 10 September. (Errata: it was actually on 8th September and I am no longer a member – as I said I was a bit cnfused!)
- A Special Council Meeting on 15 September, and consequently a special Labour Group, a week earlier. But as the Tories are setting the agenda, we do not know what it is about – except that is has to include any special steps that they intend to take to handle what they say is the Council’s budgetary crisis.
- The Planning Applications Committee on 17 September.
Did you know?
Last month I said that “not so long ago Battersea had a second power station built, run and owned by Battersea Borough Council.” And then asked, “Do you know what it was called and where it was?”
Well not many people answered that. The past is, as 
they say, another country. It was the Lombard Road Power Station, in unsurprisingly Lombard Road, on the corner of Holman Road. It was one of the early municipally run and owned power stations built in the period 1880-1910 to power the new invention sweeping through British cities – electric lighting, especially street-lighting. Opened in 1901 it was the first of its kind south of the river. It was closed in 1972. I actually remember the coal being brought in from river barges on the Thames over the traffic – a bit like the final scene in Get Carter, though that was slag being dumped into the North Sea.
And this month?
Everyone knows about the parochial boundary stones that marked the limits of the old Battersea parish, or perhaps if they don’t then this picture of two together on Queenstown Road, 100 yards north of the Wandsworth Road junction, will remind or inform.
My question is that I know of 2 other stones just like these, though set deeper into the ground. Do you know them and/or know of any others marking the old parish boundaries, which are remarkably very similar to the Battersea constituency boundaries?
PS For back-dated numbers, web-search ‘Tony Belton’ to access my blog: to sign on for future copies email tonybelton99@gmail.com.
Tony Belton
Tony Belton 