Low turnout feared for local by-election

Chiswick Homefields Ward set to vote this week

Following the resignation of Cllr Sally Gilson a by-election will be held in the Chiswick Homefields ward this week. The vote takes place on December 9th.

Gerald McGregor will be standing as the Conservative candidate defending a comfortable majority of around 600 votes. He is a personnel consultant, lives in the heart of the ward in Abinger Road with his wife and family.

He said, "My priorities, if elected, will be to work with the community to force to PCT to reconsider their decision to sell Chiswick Lodge, to work to reduce crime and get CCTV for Chiswick, to improve our streets and basically get better value from Hounslow Council. I want to stop the Council wasting our money. Council Tax has risen by 83% since 1997 but services are no better. I will stand up for the interests of Chiswick?"

The Labour party will be represented by Valerie Yates who also lives locally and was a former Chair of Governers at Chiswick Community School.

Martin Bleach is contesting the ward for the Green party. He launched a fierce attack on the ruling Labour group at Hounslow Council saying they were treating voters with ‘ill-concealed contempt’ due to the lack of any effort to encourage voters to participate in the election. He said, "Despite all the government talk of using the internet for communicating with the people, Hounslow has done the legal minimum to tell electors that there is a by-election. There is no mention of it on their web site. Hounslow Council must be unique in the country to have a by-election and to take absolutely no steps to tell the voters."

The Liberal Democrats are not contesting the seat.

RESULTS AT THE BOROUGH COUNCIL ELECTIONS, MAY 2002

September 12, 2007