Bob Steel mix

1. Sidi Diabate and Ensemble - Sori

2. Fela Kuti – Teacher Dont Teach Me Nonsense

3. Spartacus - Freedom First

4. The Specials – Ghost Town

5. Poetry for B.Jones – Rolling Stones

6. I'm yours and I'm hers – Rolling Stones

7. Marc Bolan and T.Rex – Children Of The Revolution

8. Elvis Costello and The Attractions – Oliver's Army

9. Nena – 99 Luftballoons

10. Woodstock – Stage Announcements

11. Cat Stevens – Where Do The Children Play

12. The Who – Who Are You

13. Woodstock – Stage Announcements

14. Talking Heads – Once In A Lifetime

15. Bob Dylan – The Times They Are A-Changin'

16. Wings – Mull of Kintyre

Mix can be heard here: https://www.mixcloud.com/DJCosySlippers/bob-steel-rip-mix/

Above are the tracks I picked from Bob Steel's vinyl for a mix I've just done today.  The link will expire in 7 days : https://we.tl/t-A7oIVXV8Tx

------------------------------------------------- Tags croydon, greenparty

7 pictures that tell the story of the 6th of May election.

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Firstly, the result: As there was a by election at the same time, there were two council seats up for grabs in the Reigate and Banstead Council ward of Horley East and Salfords. 334 votes from getting elected. Its the closest I've ever been to actually being elected.

In the Surrey county division of Horley East, the result was:

Jordan Woonton Beech (elected) Conservative 2,034

Tom Turner Labour 820

Shasha Khan Green Party 716

Electorate 10,490

Number of issued ballot papers 3,612

PICTURE 5 

I really had a fantastic time knocking on doors and getting to know Horley and Salfords. The area covers the full width of the political spectrum, including a nationalistic vote. One of the Horley Conservative candidates was proudly wearing a full Union Jack outfit on his leaflet. At the Count, the same candidate - who duly got elected - and his cohorts, were wearing rosettes with the traditional Conservative logo altered to reflect their fondness for the nation, although maybe not one nation. 

In 2019, UKIP stood in this seat. This time around there was no UKIP candidate. What seems to have happened here, and all across the country, is the UKIP vote has diffused into the Conservative column. 

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I must thank everyone that helped in the effort. It was an amazing campaign. Special thanks to local members Victoria, David, Joe and Will. Amazingly, one of our members lives right by the Salfords Village Hall polling station! Is it possible to take a photo with a Green Party poster and a Polling Station sign in the same shot?!

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I met some wonderful people who were desperate for a Green councillor to get elected, including Penelope who went as far as promoting me on Facebook in a big way and putting a poster up. 

Given Horley's proximity to Gatwick airport, I met several people who worked in the airline industry. One furloughed long haul pilot said he was voting Green and pointed out that when he was piloting his jumbo, he would look to conserve fuel as much as possible. Fair play to him! 

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The Green wave that was seen across the country was also experienced in East Surrey. All the target candidates won or kept their seats. Huge congratulations to them all.  Full details here.

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The county elections and the borough elections were on the same day this year. My borough ward overlapped the county target division of Earlswood and Reigate South, specifically in an an estate known as the Copsleighs. 

Hence, I was particularly pleased when the Copsleigh residents, who voted at Salfords Village Hall polling station, were rewarded with a new Green county councillor, the excellent Catherine Baart. 

On the eve of the election, I spotted a rainbow right over the village hall. It delivered a pot of gold!

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We mustn't forget we were still in the middle of global pandemic. Voters turned up to to polling stations with masks on, and candidates sat outside polling stations with masks on too! Its the sign of the times.

Tags croydon, greenparty

Just have a think!

with David Borlace

Aside from the planned and successful Action Days, I've been meeting up with local Horley members to deliver leaflets. Last weekend I met up with David Borlace. He has a very interesting day job which he explained while we were pounding the streets around Smallfield Road.

David had worked in retail for the last 20 years. Then about four years ago he had life-changing experience: He read a book called A Farewell to Ice by Peter Wadhams. In the book, Wadhams reports on the melting Arctic sea ice and the catastrophic consequences of this continued occurrence.

The book inspired David to start producing some occasional videos and publishing them on You Tube. Then when the pandemic hit last year, David was furloughed. The setback actually allowed David to devote more time to his channel, entitled Just have a think.  

 

The videos have become very popular. He has now got nearly 750,000 subscribers from all over the world, and thousands paying subscribers through Patreon. This has meant he is in a position to quit his day job and focus on his skill and passion. 

I'm grateful for David to come help out in the campaign.

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Local party meeting 2nd March.

Local party meeting

Living on the border of Surrey, it is tricky to attend our local East Surrey Green Party meetings but Zoom meetings are a different!

Last night I attended the latest meeting, run via zoom, and found out the latest information about the local elections coming up in Surrey and Regiate and Banstead.

I had wondered whether local authority nomination papers, to stand for council, would be altered given we are in the middle of a pandemic. Usually ten signatures are required, last night I found out this had been reduced to just two.  

The councillors in the group informed the meeting about local issues. It was fascinating to hear the latest news.

One of the issues that came up was a proposal for Reigate and Banstead Council to enter into a joint venture to build a business park in Horley. The Council has loaned £11m to a company that it wholly owns to purchase the land for the business park, which happens to be on a flood plain. Greens naturally oppose this. More details here: Keep Horley Green