Friday 6 July 2007

EALING COMEDY

With two by elections looming and with rumours of a snap general election in the pipeline, you would think that Sedgefield and Ealing South would be receiving a little bit more attention than they actually are. Falling below the mainstream media radar, both have a lot to offer political pundits.

Sedgefield, the old seat of a certain Tony Blair, is to be contested by his former aide and son of a local miner, Phil Wilson. Mr Wilson should have no problem in holding the seat; Blair had an 18,000 plus majority at the last election, though down on his previous outing. However, voting for the PM is different to voting for an unknown, and with local discontent over city centre development running high, we could see a major swing to either the Liberals or the Tories, both of whom level pegged in second place the last time the locals went to the ballot box. The vote will be a good indicator of any swing that may occur at national level.

Ealing South is far more interesting, and Cameron will emerge from the vote as either hero or villain. With the election called after the death of Labour incumbent Piara Khabra, the Tories hope to make serious inroads into an 11,000 majority. How come? Stand up one Tony Lit, Sikh businessman with a very polished and professional appearance. More well versed Tory pundits can be forgiven for not recognising the name; after all, Mr Lit only joined the Conservative Party 10 days ago. The subject of many a raised Tory bushy eyebrow, the wealthy business just may have the ability to tip the scales in his favour in a very big way. With a 62% ethnic minority population, Mr Lit’s knowledge of the problems facing the community and undoubted professional attitude may prove enough to give Cameron his first taste of victory under the new PM. If not, well, the traditional Tory heartland will be attacking the wisdom of appointing a certain “type” of candidate!

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