What pleases me most about this month's elections is that our Labour councillors truly represent the broad population of Hackney – unlike the Trotskyist underclass riff-raff, the mindless petit-bourgeois supporters of the LibDems and the Greens and the pathetic Tories (who are like bit-part actors in George A Romero’s "Night Of The Living Dead").
Our average age is just 40 – less than 2 years older than the average British citizen and 11 years younger than the average British MP. Hackney residents will recognise immediately the true extent to which we genuinely represent the voters of the Borough. The occupations of the 44 Labour councillors are:
- Central Government
Home Office special political advisor
Home Office civil servant
Labour Party HQ
Labour Party special advisor on media
Labour Party political advisor
Labour Party consultant
Labour Party researcher (2)
Business
Managing Director
Estate agent and property developer
Travel agent
Personnel Director
Independent financial advisor
Management consultant in health and social care
Business analyst
PR/advertising/media
PR Director (2)
PR consultant
News media Director
City media consultant
Freelance Daily Telegraph photographer
Music journalist
Law
PA to Queen’s Counsel and trainee barrister
Criminal solicitor (2)
Other Professional
Architect
Biomedical scientist
Transport consultant
Actor
Music instructor
Local Government
Council PR manager
Health administrator
Council officer (2)
Community
Community development worker
Children's project researcher
Disabled charity campaigner
Language interpreter and community volunteer
Youth volunteering co-ordinator (2)
Student
London School of Economics student
Retired
Retired teacher and telecoms manager
Retired theatrical designer
Retired community activist
Retired Marxist historian
| White | 31 |
| Turkish/Asian/Other | 7 |
| African/Caribbean | 6 |
You only have to visit Broadway Market on a Saturday morning to see just how well the Labour councillors reflect the changing face of Hackney. When you look at the Broadway Market clientele and compare them with Hackney Labour you can also see how we have moved on in what is referred to in the modern vernacular as "personal lifestyle".
Now I'm not one myself as I'm sure you realise, but I'm 108% against discrimination on grounds of personal preference and some of my very best friends are that way inclined. Most of them still find it very difficult to come out openly and admit their love of Jesus, which is a shame because our Muslim and Jewish councillors are so tolerant and inclusive in their views.
As well as a couple of Christian fundamentalists, our "minority" base includes rather more gays, lesbians and bi-sexuals than would care to declare themselves publicly - although we have a way to go to catch up with other political parties in representing the community on a sexual preference basis. Where we have established ourselves as council trail-blazers, however, is in living with eachother and bearing eachother's babies - something we can be truly proud of.
Yes - in Hackney Labour we are modern, liberated and representative. Most of us are trades unionists (mainly Amicus) even though very few of us have ever done a day's hard manual work in our lives. But then, of course, that makes us truly representative of the electorate we serve. The only difference of course - and it's just nit-picking - is that most of them didn't have any choice.
I'm Luke Akehurst..... aka. "Luke The Nuke".
1 comment:
Can't understand the joke, old bean, if there is one. These all seem like jolly decent chaps (with the odd exception) and you should be proud to have them in the party.
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