Looking To The Left

July

17

9 comments

Looking at the Labour blogs that we link to in our right sidebar:

At Julian’s Musings, Julian Ware-lane reflects on the long meetings and mounds of paperwork as a new councillor:

I want to be a different type of councillor. There are fifty-one of us in Southend-on-Sea, and fifty falling in line with accepted norms is plenty enough as far as I am concerned. I am not looking for a revolution, although a bit of boat-rocking would not go amiss, but I am determined to spend more time on doorsteps than I do in committee rooms. I want to be the perpetual activist.

Labour in Rochford seems to have gone ‘private’:

http://labourinrochford.com/ is marked private by its owner. If you were invited to view this site, please log in below.

And Jack Monroe, recently described in the Echo as an “Avid Blogger” is planning changes to her blog:

I?ve had a bit of a rejig of this here blog, as it?s grown from what was initially a rant in response to some Tory comments about single mums killing off the High Street, into something bigger than I ever expected. In order to incorporate the multi-faceted areas of interest, from food to verbal fisticuffs, I have divided it into shiny new categories.

About the author, admin

  • Had a quick look at Jack’s web site / blog. Don’t know how she finds the time to write all that stuff with full time job hunting……

  • To be fair to Jack and any other unemployed people who blog, it doesn’t take long to write a blog post (the tricky bit is getting the subject matter into your head in the first place).

    And I reckon a blog can showcase your talents for a potential employer – a lot more so than spending your time on, say, facebook….

  • Chris,

    Agree to a point but….in my experience most small businesses will be run / owned by people who would follow a Conservative ” path”. If the average small employer read some of the left wing ramblings / mad rants they would not even interview the person responsible for them. Sorry but it’s true……

  • It’s true Julian really is a perpetual activist, in all weathers. He likes nothing better than a spot of leafleting in the rain.

    I think that the article you have linked to should be read by anybody already active in a political party who is considering standing for election. This is a very honest article by a very hard working activist who is finding some aspects of being a Councillor less than glamorous.

    I have yet to meet Jack but I enjoy reading her blog. She writes very well and is doing a good job in busting some of the myths about single mums and the unemployed.

    I often see Rob Brown’s comments on this blog so I will leave him to speak for himself on the matter of his blog. I will say though that he is a very decent and likable person who will make a very good Councillor.

    I do not have a blog, I just comment on blogs and articles occasionally. I admire anyone who can keep a blog going and write something on a regular basis. I would not always have something to write about.

    When I do have an issue with something I tend to contact anyone and everyone who I think may be able to help get something done about it. A number of people reading this will have had me bending their ear about something or other over the years. I thank them for being good enough to hear me out.

  • I just read Jack’s blog for the first time after seeing it on here and can’t see anything that could be described as a ‘mad rant’. She seems to just be pointing out the lunacy and hypocrisy of local politicians.

  • Rayleigh Resident,

    I spend about half an hour blogging a day, on average, which is the same amount of time that most people take for lunch. I blog while walking from volunteer post A to volunteer post B, in the bath from my mobile, and in between the exciting bits of Council meetings, like now.

    As for mad rants, I acknowledge that I have a lively writing style and quite firm opinions, but call it what you will.

    Jack.

  • Also, on Julian. I think he is being unnecessarily hard on himself. He actually gets through a huge amount of casework, a great deal more than people expect as he is the only Labour councillor in a ward where many areas naturally want their ‘Labour man’. I know he is doing it well also since I have been with him in Milton and with residents as he has spoken to them. I know he has got involved with community campaigns most recently on the cliffs museum. Julian is a great campaigner and I have never met anyone as committed to meeting residents as he is. He works hard and is surrounded by other Labour councillors that fill any small gaps he may have in knowledge due to being a new councillor. I would be proud to have him as my councillor, a great deal more proud than I am of my current ones.

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