Have had this up today on Comment is Free. Various commentators have fingered the blame for Boris’ win on outer London yet as Luke Akehurst points out here suburbs that bucked the trend by swinging to Labour include Brent and Harrow now represented by Navin Shan and further out in Slough in the Thames Valley. In Bromley and Bexley the Tories romped home with James Cleverley a candidate who smashes Conservative stereotypes as their first black Assembly Member. The suburbs cannot be subjected to blanket treatment then; outer London boroughs also helped the BNP to their first Assembly Member - an alarming fact that seems to have been conveniently overlooked by the media who are punch drunk on the Boris victory.
Comments are welcome, as all this is background to what will be my next book on the changing face of twenty-first century suburbia. They seem to be, for some reason, flooding into this curio which I can’t really account for.
8 comments
Comments feed for this article
May 6, 2008 at 3:29 pm
Tim
Perhaps time for a change - but I’d be interested to know whether the vote was based on party or personality.
May 6, 2008 at 5:51 pm
leon
I wonder what those voters will think after four years of a Boris Mayoralty?
May 6, 2008 at 6:02 pm
parburypolitica
that does suppose there is anyone left in London by the time he’s finished
May 7, 2008 at 8:25 am
Tim
So what is Ken’s legacy?
May 8, 2008 at 12:43 am
earnest o'guevara
Your ravings against Ruth Fowler’s totally ridiculous article mirrored my own private ranting on reading Ms Fowler’s piece myself.
As the ‘white’ bit of a ‘mixed-race’ couple I completely agree that the piece was patronising etc etc, and so glad you highlighted the ridiculous “exotic booty for me to choose for my next conquest” tone.
Amidst the rubbish often filling CiF, your work is a breath of fresh air.
Will you be available to rescue the Labour party if/when Brown is out?
May 8, 2008 at 8:25 am
MixTogether
Earnest (can I call you Ernie?) have you been on to mixtogether.org?
May 8, 2008 at 9:53 am
rupahuq
Oi Ernie, add your voice to the CiF massive while you can (I think they close a thread after 72 hours). More interventions like your wise words are needed amongst the stuff there.
May 14, 2008 at 2:15 pm
Surya
“As the ‘white’ bit of a ‘mixed-race’ couple I completely agree that the piece was patronising etc etc, and so glad you highlighted the ridiculous “exotic booty for me to choose for my next conquest” tone.”
++++
I hate to be controversial, but in my experience that is exactly the way that a lot of white people, both men and women, think about the sexuality of Black and Asian men and women. I admire Ruth Fowler for her honesty. At least she admits it.