A clearer picture of the Green party surge in Solihull
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Version 0 of 1. Lynsey Hanley (Labour’s heartlands aren’t racist. They need listening to, 17 February) says the BNP councillor for Chelmsley Wood was not replaced in 2010 by a Labour councillor. In fact he was – I was that Labour councillor! The Greens only started fighting elections seriously in Chelmsley Wood in 2010, playing on discontent with a local regeneration programme, which was mismanaged by Tory-run Solihull council before 2010 and was the victim of swingeing cuts by the coalition government after 2010. The Greens established a foothold in Chelmsley Wood by bringing in swaths of supporters (and sometimes their candidates) from across the West Midlands, which was almost impossible to fight against. While they have had victories since they first won in 2011 (Cllr Chris Williams, whom Hanley quoted, was actually first elected in 2012, not 2010 as she wrote), Green councillors don’t hold a regular advice surgery for residents, serve as governors on local schools, or stand in local parish council elections where councillors receive no financial reward, and are a very weak opposition to the Tories on Solihull council. While I have respect for some individual Green party councillors who no doubt work hard as their Labour predecessors did, I totally reject the glib comments that Labour councillors took Chelmsley Wood for granted, as I gave a huge amount of time in serving the residents of an area with historical social problems, while holding a full-time job at the same time. Labour always needs to work hard with people on the ground in areas like Chelmsley Wood because the time will come when residents will turn to us again for strong local representation.Nick StephensLabour and Co-op party councillor for Chelmsley Wood 1983-2006 and 2010-14 • Lynsey Hanley provides an insightful picture of political estrangement in the multiple deprivation estates of Chelmsley Wood in Solihull. However, the ward’s voting and demographic statistics do not justify her inference that “left behind” working-class voters will rally behind active political mobilisation by the likes of Solihull’s Green party. Yes, the Greens in 2016 received an impressive 1,652 votes: 75% of the Chelmsley Wood total. However, this was on a turnout of only around 26% and only 12% of the ward’s population. In general the apocryphal “left behind” people in the D and E social classes have the lowest electoral registration and participation rates. It is therefore probable that relatively few of the 3,339 Chelmsley Wood adults in the D and E classes even voted – let alone voted Green. It’s more likely that most of the 1,652 Green voters came from the ward’s 2,300 A, B and C1 – ie middle class – residents: their usual electoral base.Bryn JonesBath • Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com • Read more Guardian letters – click here to visit gu.com/letters |