• IT’S clear the effects of an excessive majority for a ruling party, even in a supposedly “democratic” election system such as ours, can lead to arrogance and complacency.

Nationally one only has to look at the current cabinet formed in his own image by the mendacious charlatan currently in charge at No 10.

Locally one only has to look at Camden’s sham consultations of residents when it comes to major development projects (the Somers Town tower, Murphy’s Yard in Kentish Town and the O2 Centre to name but three); and cycle lanes and low traffic neighbourhoods, and “virtue-signalling” statements over carbon emissions but no real follow-through, as evidenced by the hundreds of mature trees authorised for felling even in conservation areas.

It appears the ruling party (Labour in this case) has assumed an arrogance and complacency to do whatever they want, regardless of residents’ concerns, and at times even working covertly with developers to “guide” them in the direction of overly-dense development.

At a more mundane level, cuts to refuse collections and street cleaning have let down many residents.

Worst of all Camden Labour even deselected no fewer than seven of their own excellent and
long-standing existing councillors who had the temerity simply to stand up for their own residents’ issues and concerns, in the face of the policies of the ruling group.

If this arrogance and complacency is not checked on May 5 then we will end up with many more examples of high-rises and very dense overdevelopments leading to very poor quality, excessively high-rise, housing of the wrong unit mix and with insufficient affordable housing and real green space for families.

Please be sure to put local issues above national issues when weighing how to vote on May 5.

Having more local Tory or even Liberal Democrat councillors will introduce a stronger opposition to the ruling, arrogant, party in Camden and will help hold the latter to account and force them to genuinely listen to their residents for a change.

So, even if this involves “holding one’s nose” while voting because of the terrible current national government antics and policies, please do treat the local elections as local, and not as a referendum on the national government.

ERIC PEEL, NW6