Letter: The Corbyn Effect Is Being Felt In Guildford

Published on: 18 Sep, 2015
Updated on: 18 Sep, 2015

From George Dokimakis

The Corbyn effect has had already a massive change to the Guildford Labour party. Since the elections our numbers have skyrocketed 2.5 times or by 150%, for those of you that like numbers.

A huge influx of people is energising the local Labour party with people keen to be involved and finally finding out someone that actually represents them. The numbers are staggering across the board.

Think about this for a second: more people voted for Jeremy Corbyn than the whole of the Conservative party membership.

The country is changing and Guildford is changing too. The massive influx of people energised about politics creates a grassroots movement that will surprise Guildford.

Similar to Podemos in Spain and Syriza in Greece, people fed up with career politicians that hire spin doctors, fed up with the current status quo that does not understand the needs of the citizens, are rising up and start engaging with politics throughout the country.

These people are in Guildford too and now are starting to come out of their shell and start engaging in a local movement that any self-respecting party would aspire to have.

But how will this change Guildford? Guildford is a town that gave Conservatives a majority number of councillors but just under 50% of the total local vote. Yet, the signs of arrogance that so frequently follow such victories are already showing.

The Conservative-led council is so sure of its longstanding Tory colours that the only policy it has enacted since being re-elected earlier this year is to evict Guildford museum from the site it has been on for over 100 years, with no interest in where, if anywhere, it moves to, let alone considering the impact to our cultural heritage.

The Conservative Leader of the council has no qualms being in business with a convicted liar and forger and keeps defending this against increasing opposition from all parties.

The Conservative-led council has no qualms on wasting money in pointless, pompous activities such as spending over £1500 for six bicorn hats (if you wonder what bicorn hats are, what they are used for or how on earth each one costs over £250, you are part of the majority).

The Conservative-led council has no qualms on allowing a new supermarket in the city centre without considering the supporting infrastructure. If you are wondering how Guildford will cope with the additional traffic Waitrose will generate in the town centre, yet again you are with the majority and have questions unanswered.

Yet again you are the people the Council chooses to ignore. All of you are now starting to get involved. The Corbyn effect is already increasing Labour’s local members with more coming on a daily basis.

Members that are keen to be involved and say that “Enough is enough!”. This is generating an unprecedented grassroots movement in Guildford that in recent years has only seen only two such movements, one against the ill-conceived local plan and one led by a criminal who actually paid for students to go out and galvanise people into signing an ill-fated petition to have a mayor of Guildford.

In the next few years, thanks to the Corbyn effect, the number of petitions, grassroots movement and active, local, political engagement in Guildford will increase massively.

Change is in the air of Guildford and people are getting involved. You can stay by the side and witness Guildford changing or you can be a part of it too.

George Dokimakis is a member of the Labour Party.

Guildford Labour Party declined to give their membership figures.

The Surrey Archaeological Society was offered alternative accommodation by GBC but the society found it unsuitable and unaffordable. Negotiations are understood to be continuing. Ed.

Responses to Letter: The Corbyn Effect Is Being Felt In Guildford

Sally Parrott Reply

September 18, 2015 at 2:30 pm

Well said Mr Dokimakis.

It’s less than a week since Jeremy Corbyn was elected, but already attitudes are changing.

We had been encouraged by much of the national press to believe that ever-increasing austerity was inevitable, and to blame disadvantaged groups (the poor, unemployed, old, sick, and immigrants) for ever-worsening social conditions and steps back towards vicious poverty; however, alternative views are now being voiced in the media.

The new Labour shadow cabinet can’t enact policy yet, but I hope the poorest and most endangered begin to realise that there is hope, that we should all care for each other, that there is such a thing as society, and that life can and will get better.
Stuart Barnes Reply

September 23, 2015 at 9:53 am

Interesting. Corbyn promotes tired old far left neo-communist policies which have never worked in the past and is praised for doing so. Is he relying on the fact that the appalling crimes committed in the name of such ideology are too long ago for the electorate to remember?

What I find depressing is that our choice of political parties, for which we will be asked to vote, are all on the left. The current socialist party under Corbyn is on the obviously extreme (and unelectable) left; the pathetic and completely untrustworthy Liberal Democrat party is on the middle left; and the so called Conservative party under the ghastly David Cameron is on the wet “BBC” left.

Other than the indefatigable Nigel Farage, there seems to be nobody on the sane right. Is it time for a new party?

As an interesting final thought – more people voted for UKIP than for the Scottish Nats and Liberals combined at the last general election. Our voting system is broken.