Further to Dave Hill’s post on Red Boris welcoming London’s newly won Fair Trade City status, where he mentions that 20 boroughs have been so accredited, I’ve been digging them up. Here’s the most recent list I could find:
- Camden
- Croydon
- Ealing
- Kingston
- Lambeth
- Lewisham
- Newham
- Hammersmith and Fulham
- Hounslow
- Greenwich
- Richmond
- Islington
- Tower Hamlets
- Southwark
- Sutton
- Waltham Forest
- Hackney
Obviously that’s only 17 (if anyone knows what the other three are supposed to be, I’d like to know), but it’s notable that of the core Boris Boroughs, only LBHF makes the list – the True Blue heartlands of Bexley, Bromley, Hillingdon, K&C and Westminster don’t seem too bothered about Fair Trade, and neither does Wandsworth (which has surprisingly little input into Team Boris considering its political character). More damningly, LBHF actually achieved Fair Trade status in 2005, when it was still Labour (it went Conservative in a huge swing in 2006). The BBC picked up on this earlier in the year, before the Mayoral election, when we were apparently ‘one borough away’.
One reason for this Tory opposition may be found on Google’s cache of the page (the real one is AWOL for some reason). Note that a Certain Non Person makes an appearance in the banner:
Yes, it’s a Ken Livingstone initiative that’s seen no support from the Boris heartlands at all. Not that the Mayor will mention that, of course, but he can take some comfort that Henley on Thames is a Fair Trade Town.
7 responses so far ↓
In Bexley the previous Labour administration (also swept out in 2006 by a tsunami of Tories) was keen to pursue Fair Trade status and finally resolved to do so at a Council meeting in early 2006. Of course it was never pursued once the Tories got in.
And who was leader of the Tories? Step forward Ian Clement, who I’m told was at Boris’s side yesterday when the FairTrade London announcement was made. Amazing how a six-figure salary can make you rethink your priorities, isn’t it?
Good point well made – the Borough Boys are as likely to support fair trade as they are to vote for a rise in funding for, well, RISE.
the twenty boroughs are….
Camden, City of London, Croydon, Ealing, Enfield, Greenwich, Hackney, Hammersmith & Fulham, Hounslow, Islington, Kingston, Lambeth, Lewisham, Newham, Redbridge, Richmond, Southwark, Sutton, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest.
I think the only one to pass it as a tory council was Redbridge (Lambeth was a tory/libdem split at the time). Just wanted to throw in the fact that Wandsworth Council recently (22nd) voted against the motion to support Fairtrade again with not one Conservative Councillor (and there are 51) being in favour.
BIt weird about the Ian Clement thing, at the event on Thursday he said he hoped Bexley could become a Fairtrade town.
I’d missed out Redbridge, Enfield and City of London, then.
[...] Fair Trade Boroughs One of twenty [...]
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great one!
good luck