Ealing Borough Liberal Democrats

Welcome to Ealing North Lib Dems

Lib Dems Choose Chris Lucas for Ealing North

Local Liberal Democrats have selected Chris Lucas as their Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for the Ealing North Constituency.

Chris believes passionately in local decisions being made by local people rather than being dictated by Whitehall or City Hall. That's why he makes the following pledges to the voters in Ealing North:

• To fight to keep open the local A&E units at Ealing Hospital
• To oppose any plans - Labour or Conservative - to expand Heathrow
• To fight to maintain police strength across Ealing, and oppose any plans by Boris Johnson to cut the number of officers

On his selection, Chris said: "I am proud to represent the Liberal Democrats in Ealing North, one of the most vibrant and diverse constituencies in London. I want to make Fairness the cornerstone on our government, unlike the current system which favours the wealthy or those with 'connections'. The Lib Dems are the only party to speak out on the issues that matter to hardworking families and local people."

To find out more about Chris, email chris@ealinglibdems.org.uk.

Public Hustings

In the run up to the big day on May 6th, the first 2 official Ealing North Hustings of the campaign have now been organised.

The first is on April 22nd at St. George's Parish Church, Sudbury HA0 3QE and the second is on April 28th at St Barnabas, Northolt Park, Raglan Way, UB5 4SX.

So if you're free on either of those days, come on down and watch me go head to head with my Labour and Conservative opponents.

I look forward to seeing/meeting as many of you as possible for what should a fun night of political debate.

PS, if you can't make either meeting (or you just love the sound of our voices) I'll be debating with Labour and the Conservatives on Westside FM: (http://www.westsideradio.co.uk/) on April 27th from 6pm-8pm. Tune in and send a message - it would be good to hear from you.

Open letter to former MP Steve Pound about Ealing Hospital A&E unit

Dear Mr. Pound,

Over the last few weeks I have shared a platform with you on 3 separate occasions and each time, when the subject of the planned closure of the A&E unit at Ealing Hospital arises, your response has varied. First of all, you simply denied any existence of a plan to cut the service and dismissed out of hand the concerns of residents and staff. However at the recent hustings held at St. Barnabas church in Northolt, you gave a rousing speech that ended in you saying something along the lines of: "If this were to happen I would be the first to lie down in front of the bulldozer" (or words to that effect). But as my mother would say: "fine words butter no parsnips", Steve. Whether the rumours are true or false, you know that this is of major concern to residents and staff, so where are the public meetings, organised by you, to discuss this issue with the community in order to allay their fears? Why didn't you demand the Health Secretary comes to Ealing and explain the rumours himself and state categorically that there would be no unit closure? Where was the Early Day Motion (EDM) in the House of Commons on the issue? Why couldn't you even support your former Parliamentary colleague Virenda Sharma (former MP for neighbouring Ealing Southall) with his EDM? If these are just scurrilous rumours then how can you explain all the attention they are receiving in the local and national media?

The plan to close the A&E unit (and the threat to withdraw other frontline services) at Ealing Hospital is the single most important local issue to the residents of Ealing. As one of the 3 MPs for the Borough of Ealing, you had the power to bring the full glare of the media to this all important issue and yet you have failed to do so. Why is that Steve? On more than one occasion I've heard you say that when you reached a position of seniority within the party, you felt compelled to resign as a matter of principle. So, where is this selfless self sacrifice now? Whether loved or loathed, one thing is clear - you are one of Ealing's most high profile personalities. So why are you so uncharacteristically quiet of this issue?

The answer to this, I suspect, is that you know what is being planned, but you know it would be political suicide to do anything about it. If you own up to the plot to close the A&E unit at Ealing Hospital and join local residents and staff in their fight against it, I guess that means you can kiss good bye to any future favours from Gordon Brown and the Labour party (GB may even be the one driving the bulldozer!). And you know if you were to even attempt to justify the government's position, you could wave farewell to any chance of getting re-elected. So what do you do? Deny everything until after the election where, if elected, due to the biased political system with no mechanism to recall MPs, you'd be guaranteed a job for another 5 years regardless. With any luck, memories will fade, much as they have done over the Iraq war that you voted for... Or better still, blame it on the problems with the economy (which again, is of Gordon Brown and Labour's making).

So Steve, it's way past the time for words - now it's time for action. You need to come out of the shadows on this one and make your position clear. Either publicly explain to all the residents of Ealing, but in particular those living in Ealing North, how there is no proposed plan to close the A&E unit, or join Ealing Lib Dems and others who are campaigning against any reduction in NHS front line services. There's always room on the petition, Steve. A former MP's name would be most welcome.

Yours sincerely

Chris Lucas

Chris Lucas

Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate

Ealing North Constituency

Lib Dems Storm TV Debates

To be involved in politics in the wake of the expenses scandal is no easy task, but as Lib Dems, we're used to having to fight tooth and nail for the media to give airtime & column inches to our policies. But with Vince Cable's towering authority in the Chancellor's debate followed by Nick Clegg's outstanding performance in the first Leader's debate, all that has changed. Never before have I seen so much attention being paid to the Lib Dems and their policies. Vince's clear plan to get us out of the economic mess brought about by Gordon Brown, and Nick's message of fairness for all, not just the privileged few, has really struck a chord. Whilst out canvassing since the debates, there is definitely a noticeable attitude shift. Exasperation has been replaced by hope and there is a palpable sense that change is in the air. People now realise that whether it's on education, job creation, taxation or reform, fairness is at the heart of the Liberal Democrat commitment to the British people. The two old parties will always allow their paymasters to drive their agendas. Whether it's the big unions or big business - Labour and Conservative will never be the parties of change because that would be biting the hand that feeds them. The Lib Dems are the only party who put the interests of ordinary everyday people first.

Those of us who know Nick know how passionately he feels about bringing about the changes our country so dearly needs. There's no media training, air brushing or style consultants - what you see is what you get. At the next debate (Sky News, 8pm, Thursday 22nd) I have no doubt he'll continue where he left off and run rings around the rigid, 'red-blue' dogma of the politics of yesteryear and push the agenda for change. This time around, the knives will be out. The old parties now realise that they can no longer take the electorate for granted - they will have to fight for every single vote. I for one eagerly anticipate 'round 2', but more importantly I would welcome the opportunity to implement Nick's message to the voters in Ealing North.

Police Numbers: Johnson & Johnson discuss

I watched the evening news with even more outrage than usual on Tuesday (April 13th). There was Alan Johnson, Labour's Leader-in-Waiting, going on about how it is Labour who are going to protect front line police services from the Tories' Leader in Waiting, Boris Johnson. This coming from the man whose party is secretly scheming behind the backs of local residents to close the A&E Unit at Ealing Hospital. This coming from the man whose party's continual penny pinching has resulted in our soldiers being ill equipped to fulfil their still-unexplained mission in Afghanistan. This coming from the man whose party took us into an illegal war in Iraq against the will of the people. Labour have betrayed the British people in so many ways, I hope you can understand why I think it a bit rich asking us to trust him on Policing, especially when it is his party who have instigated the sea of paperwork that turns our bobbies into processing clerks.

As short sighted, irresponsible and downright dangerous as his plan is, at least Boris has admitted that he wants to cut police numbers. What's funny is how Conservative candidates across London are desperately trying to disassociate themselves from Bo-Jo out of fear of it derailing their carefully stage-managed accession to power. Boris says "cuts", Chris Grayling (Shadow Home Sec) says: "we won't... dictate from Whitehall how local police forces do their jobs..." - I don't know about you but that sounds like "cuts" to me! There's no commitment from the Tories whatsoever to protect even current police numbers - an indication of what's to come under a Tory government.

The Liberal Democrats are the only party pledging not just to maintain police numbers at their current levels but to add an additional 3000 more police on Britain's streets - including 600 more in London alone. This will be paid for by putting fairness at the heart of the Treasury. By closing the loopholes that favour the wealthiest, clawing tax back from non-payers through anti-avoidance measures and green taxation of domestic flights (not to mention the cost savings we have already identified across several government departments) we will raise the money needed to fulfil our spending pledges.

Boris plans to destroy community policing at a time when concern about crime, drugs and antisocial disorder is at an all time high. We Liberal Democrats intend to fight him every step of the way.

Save Ealing Hospital A&E

On Wednesday April 8th, all three Ealing Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidates attended a public meeting at West London Trade Union Club to hear Dr. John Lister, Director of London Health Emergency speak about the threats to front line NHS provision across London, in particular Ealing Hospital, Central Middlesex Hospital and West Middlesex Hospital. Dr. Lister explained how the government had engaged the services of American management consultants to advise them on how to make "cost efficiencies" in London hospitals. As a result he went on to say that secret leaked documents reveal that there are plans to severely cut services at all 3 hospitals, with the A&E unit at Ealing Hospital being earmarked for closure.

Chris Lucas, Lib Dem Parliamentary Candidate for Ealing North asked: "We have a Labour government, with 3 Labour MPs representing the 3 Ealing constituencies and many people in this room are associated with the Labour party. So where are Messrs Pound, Sharma and Slaughter on this issue? They should be our voice in Parliament, representing our interests and defending our NHS. At this time more than ever, they will listen. So you should use your influence and get them to commit unequivocally to keep all the services at Ealing Hospital in tact. Between now and the general election, I am due to share a platform with Stephen Pound and I for one shall be asking him to state categorically where he stands on this issue. I suggest we all do the same if we see any of our MPs on the campaign trail".

Please support our "Save Ealing Hospital and Central Middlesex Hospital A&E Units" campaign by signing our petition: http://ealinglibdems.org.uk/petitions/8.html

Ealing North area

Ealing North covers Greenford, Perivale, and parts of Northolt, Hanwell (Hobbayne), West Ealing north of the Uxbridge Road and Pitshanger.

At the 2010 General Election, the parts of Hanger Hill and Ealing Broadway wards which are still in Ealing North will transfer to the new Ealing Central & Acton constituency. (See the separate pages for this constituency, which now covers all the east of the borough.) A small area will also transfer into Ealing North from Southall.

The area has eight wards, which each elect three councillors to sit on Ealing Borough council. These wards are: • Cleveland • Greenford Broadway • Greenford Green • Hobbayne • North Greenford • Northolt Mandeville • Northolt West End • Perivale.

Last General Election

Ealing North General Election Result
Turnout: 45607 (58%) 44% Labour: 20056 (−11.7%) 30.5% Conservative: 13897 (+1.2%) 20.1% Liberal Democrat: 9148 (+8.9%) View the results in detail.

At the General Election in May 2005, Francesco Fruzza increased the Lib Dem vote by more than 4,100 over the tally in 2001. The Labour vote fell by a similar amount, whilst the Conservatives made little progress.

Since 1997, the Lib Dem vote has increased by over 5,250, and the share of the total has gone by by nearly three times. We expect this progress to continue at the 2010 General Election.

Previous news from Ealing North

Cleveland 2007 By-election Result

Francesco Fruzza, the Lib Dem candidate in the July 2007 by-election campaign in Cleveland ward, succeeded in increasing the Lib Dem share of the vote for the fourth successive election, despite failing to overturn the previous Conservative margin and gain an Ealing Borough Council seat.

The Lib Dem vote share of 37% was 1% higher than at the full borough council elections in May 2006, and 10% up on 2002. The local FOCUS team - Francesco Fruzza, John Maycok and Gary Purkiss - is confident it will make further progress at the full Ealing Council elections on 6 May 2010, and overturn the present small and falling Tory majority.

The full figures for 2007 were:

Conservative: 1519 : 43% (+1%)

FRANCESCO FRUZZA 1288 : 37% (+1%)

Labour 539 : 15% (-4%)

Green 165 : 5% (+1%)

Executive Committee of Ealing Borough Lib Dems

The campaigning and running of Ealing North Liberal Democrats is done through the Executive Committee of the Borough party, who are elected by all members in Ealing each year. Three places for ordinary committee members are reserved for Ealing North.

Executive meetings are open to all members and you do not need to be elected to attend. You can also take part in the borough-wide policy discussions, or get involved in our other activities. If you have any questions, just contact us at any time. We'd love to hear from you!

The Borough Party Executive normally meets on second or third Monday of each month.

• Contact details for Ealing North
• Forthcoming events diary