• LORNA Russell’s sudden defection to the Green Party is disappointing and I pay tribute to her hard work as a Labour and Co-op councillor in Fortune Green.

I shared her joy at her election in 2014 and valued her commitment. Her defection is all the more surprising as in September she helped write a leaflet with the headline, Fortune Green Labour: supporting communities and the environment.

Then on October 6 she announced to West Branch Labour members that she would not stand again in Fortune Green as, having moved from Hampstead, she realised during the Fortune Green by-election that she could not effectively campaign here.

I sympathised with her position as she was only able to make occasional appearances during the by-election campaign; might explain why she did not hear the hundreds of green conversations that Cllr Richard Olszewski and Labour candidate Lorna Greenwood had on doorsteps with residents.

Labour councillors in Fortune Green were elected on a Labour manifesto. Despite Camden’s government funding being cut in half, so that funding per resident is cut by over 60 per cent from £1,123 in 2010 to £422 today, our Labour council continues to deliver on that manifesto in education, housing, social care, and community facilities.

We have invested in Emmanuel and West Hampstead primary schools and built the new Kingsgate primary school extension on Liddell Road, with Cllr Olszewski the only Fortune Green councillor to back it all the way.

During the pandemic £40,000 has been given to community hubs in Fortune Green and council tax relief to 1,100 low-income households. Fortune Green Labour continues to fight for urgent repairs to council housing and for cleaner, greener, streets.

I wish to reassure your readers that Cllr Olszewski and Lorna Greenwood, Labour by-election candidate, along with long-standing Labour activists, will continue to talk to residents, listen to their concerns, and be powerful voices for Fortune Green.

ENYD NORMAN
Secretary
West Branch Labour Party
Hampstead and Kilburn CLP
Local matters