The most recent South Cambridgeshire Constituency Labour Party meeting was held in Cottenham where we had MP Dan Zeichner as our guest speaker, and we examined some upcoming issues including the forthcoming mayoral candidate selection and county council elections in 2017.
Dan spoke on how things are going within the Parliamentary Labour Party and some recent events, such as his experience of the policy forum at Loughborough and his commitment to better public transport provision.
After this he went on to discuss the EU Referendum result and his reasons for supporting the UK remaining as an EU member, Gove and Johnson’s irresponsible handling of the whole situation, and the Prime Minister’s lack of vision as to what may come next. The Conservative mangling of our NHS and the changing of our employment landscape were also mentioned at length, both of which were interesting but potentially concerning for the future of the UK.
The floor was then opened to the assembled members’ questions which included topics such as the rise of the far right in Europe, Dan’s views on Universal Basic Income, and the Cambridgeshire housing market. Overall it was an informative visit which was appreciated.
The rest of the meeting looked at South Cambridgeshire’s county council elections next year and the prospective candidates. We have a lot of eager people who are committed to fighting for seats in the region, even if it is going to prove a challenge – but just because something is hard does not mean it should not be done!
The mayoral election was also mentioned, including that the selection of candidates would be carried out at Alex Wood Hall on December 8th at 19:30. After Dave Baigent’s amazing efforts as Police and Crimes Commissioner candidate and how close that election was, it bodes well for Labour efforts to win the mayoral office.
Although we may be living through a period of uncertainty, it was heartening to see and speak to members from across South Cambridgeshire and there was a real sense of purpose for the coming struggles ahead.