• I WAS surprised to see the patronising claim by Frognal & Fitzjohns Labour that voting Labour was the way to support a multi-cultural and diverse Camden (A pro Brexit slate in our ward is not on…, January 18).

This came alongside a chilling accusation that male Conservative candidates have “no place in politics in Camden”.

It’s true that I’m male. But, as it happens, I’m from a rather mixed background. My Jewish paternal grandmother fled Nazi Germany, finding her way to Camden via Scotland and a Catholic convent.

My mother was raised in Tehran; her mother was born in Istanbul to a Greek family; and her father found his way from Belfast to Salonika, fighting for a free Greece.

I’ve studied and lived in several different countries across four continents, learning Persian, Arabic and a few other languages. For over a decade my Italian-born boyfriend and I have made Hampstead our home. So, frankly, I don’t feel like taking lectures about my diversity.

I suspect that Camden voters are too wise to fall for ad hominem attacks or Labour’s politics of hatred. In my experience, local residents want to know how their councillors will stand up for the ward where they have made their homes.

Labour’s plan is to eliminate all opposition across the borough, ensuring that no one can hold them to account when they break manifesto promises (for example, by cutting bin collections) or green-light unpopular developments.

Our job is to make sure that doesn’t happen and to stand up for the north of the borough which is all too often ignored.

HENRY NEWMAN
Frognal & Fitzjohns Conservatives