MPs

‘John Cryer MP Once Lived Here’ UPDATED

A correspondent writes: ‘People viewing properties in Leyton may have come across a flat in Lawton Road E10. In estate agent jargon, this well appointed property has two bedrooms, modern kitchen and bathroom; is located in a quiet residential street close to the cricket ground; and is well served by local buses. The estate agent may or may not relate that this nice but otherwise unremarkable... »

Stella Creasy’s views on local government: getting better, but not yet best

I was interested to hear Stella Creasy MP tell Andrew Neil on last week’s Sunday Politics show: ‘Do you think local government matters, Andrew, because I do. Local government is often the first place where people come into politics’. She is quite right, of course, and similar sentiments are exactly why I write this blog. But has she really lived up to her own words? There are plenty of things abou... »

‘Create the impression that you’re constantly in your constituency without wasting too much of your time by being there’

According to Guido Fawkes, Labour’s Austin Mitchell has just come out with this nugget of advice for Parliamentarians: ‘“Constituents are a grudging lot and the people that turn to you for help are so clueless that they probably don’t vote anyway. It’s appearances that count, not work or surgeries.The days when you’d get away with a monthly visit – still less a yearly visit – are gone. You’ve got ... »

Town Hall asbestos: now John Cryer MP comments, well sort of

In his March 2015 E-bulletin, the somnolent MP for Leyton and Wanstead John Cryer comments as follows: ‘I was troubled by some reports which have surfaced online about how Waltham Forest Council dealt with the discovery of asbestos at the Town Hall. This had the potential to cause ordinary council workers, officers and the councillors themselves serious, chronic health problems. I met with t... »

Asbestos matters: John Cryer MP keeps stum, too

John Cryer is a trade union sponsored MP who likes to present himself as a staunch defender of the downtrodden. In April 2014, Mr. Cryer addressed a memorial service in the Town Hall complex to commemorate ‘men killed whilst at work’, in particular those  ‘as young as 16 who have died in and around the borough’. The local press published a picture of him standing outside the Town Hall itself, alon... »