A Whole Year of ChiswickW4.com Blogs
Chiswick Homefields councillor Jack Emsley reports back
Councillor Jack Emsley and friends out canvassing
May 27, 2023
It’s almost a year to the day since I wrote my first ChiswickW4 councillors blog – it’s safe to say things have changed quite a bit since May 2022! I’ve dropped a few brief reflections on 12 months of being a Chiswick councillor at the end of this article (although truth be told it would take a small book to fit everything in!), but I wanted to devote the main chunk of it to the past week, which has been as varied and busy as always.
Knocking on Doors
Last Saturday I was out with a few local party members knocking on doors, as we do regularly. A couple of residents did (cynically!) ask if there were elections coming up – thankfully not, but as your local councillor I believe it’s important to be out and about talking to the local community as regularly as possible. We’re elected to represent you, and we can do this most effectively by having regular conversations. It doesn’t matter how you vote, us local Chiswick councillors are here to listen and to advocate on your behalf!
The major issue that came up speaking to residents on Cranbrook, Beverley and Homefield Road was crime, and in particular reports of drug dealing in and around Homefield Recreation Ground. Sadly, it’s an issue that’s been going on for a while, but seems to have become more pronounced in the past few months. Not only is it creating an unsafe environment for local families and students going there to play football after school, it’s also destroying the local park in much more physical ways: residents report that the bushes around the park are home to broken bottles and needles. Our local police team is aware, and I’m liaising with Hounslow Council to try to get the area properly tidied up (and therefore make it safer for local families to start enjoying as the summer months begin).
Borough Council AGM
Whilst supporting local residents through casework and getting involved in local community groups takes up the bulk of our work, there is of course another role that Chiswick’s Conservative councillors play, namely holding Hounslow Labour to account as the official opposition on the council. We do this in a variety of ways, mainly through our work on committees (I’m a member of the Housing Scrutiny Panel, which does what it says on the tin) and in formal meetings of the council.
On Tuesday it was the Annual General Meeting of the council, which is more of a formality than other meetings – we met principally to agree to the composition of committees ahead of the new municipal year, and to decide on who becomes the next mayor. There have already been a number of column inches in local media dedicated to the controversial process by which the new mayor of Hounslow was selected this year – ordinarily, Labour councillors get to vote on who their candidate is but this year, such is the tension between different factions in the local party, it was decided that the leader of the council would appoint the mayor instead. I’ll leave readers to decide whether that is the mark of a harmonious and united group of councillors, but a number of my Labour colleagues have voiced their frustration with the pick and the process.
On the night, there was no public dissent from Labour councillors when the new mayor was announced, but I suspect this is far from the last we’ll hear on this story…
Armed Forces Covenant
Internal Labour politics aside, us Conservative councillors actually found ourselves in agreement with our colleagues in red for most of the other items of business. Pick of the bunch was the Armed Forces Covenant Renewal, which allowed the council to pledge its continued support of the delivery of the Armed Forces Covenant (AFC), and adopt the renewed AFC 2023. In a rare (but welcome!) bi-partisan move, the renewal was proposed by the leader of the Labour Group and seconded by Cllr Peter Thompson, the leader of the Conservative Group.
Whilst we inevitably disagree on quite a bit, both nationally and locally, it was great to see all councillors come together to support our armed forces. It’s a nice reminder that, at the end of the day, councillors are committed to public service regardless of the colour rosette we wear during local elections, and that we can come together on issues such as this which transcend party politics.
Local Elections: One Year On
As mentioned earlier, this blog is being published almost a year to the day since my first article for ChiswickW4.com, and just over 12 months since I was elected as a Chiswick Homefields councillor. In that time, I’ve had the pleasure of representing the best community in London, from helping residents access the services and support they need to backing community groups and securing funding for a wide array of brilliant local projects. I’ve loved supporting our local businesses and markets, and advocating for all four corners of the ward. It’s an absolute privilege to be your councillor in Chiswick Homefields, and I can’t wait for the next three years and (voters willing) many more after that.
Cllr Jack Emsley
07977 396017
CONSERVATIVE COUNCILLOR SURGERIES
Chiswick: Every Saturday from 9.30am to 10.30am at Chiswick Library (the eight Conservative councillors take this surgery in turn).
Gunnersbury: First Saturday of the month from 10am to 11am at The Gunnersbury Triangle Club, Triangle Way, off The Ridgeway, W3 8LU (at least one of the Chiswick Gunnersbury ward councillors takes this surgery).
CONSERVATIVE COUNCILLORS and CONTACTS
Chiswick Gunnersbury (was Turnham Green) ward
Cllr Joanna Biddolph joanna.biddolph@hounslow.gov.uk 07976 703446
Cllr Ranjit Gill ranjit.gill@hounslow.gov.uk 07976 702956
Cllr Ron Mushiso ron.mushiso@hounslow.gov.uk 07976 702887
Chiswick Homefields ward
Cllr Jack Emsley jack.emsley@hounslow.gov.uk 07977 396017
Cllr Gerald McGregor gerald.mcgregor@hounslow.gov.uk 07866 784821
Cllr John Todd john.todd@hounslow.gov.uk 07866 784651
Chiswick Riverside ward
Cllr Peter Thompson peter.thompson@hounslow.gov.uk 07977 395810
Cllr Gabriella Giles gabriella.giles@hounslow.gov.uk 07966 270823
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