EQUALITIES
UPDATE
GMB fights for acceptance
VICTORY for Sadiq !
SADIQ WINS ! The new Mayor of London celebrates his victory .
Sadiq Khan is the council estate boy who will change London , says political officer Gary Doolan
G
MB is sending its thanks to members who campaigned and voted for Sadiq Khan in the London mayoral election . It was such a great campaign : Sadiq ’ s overwhelming win in London , with the largest majority in any mayoral election , shows that Labour remains strong in London , and that the city ’ s people rejected the Tory manifesto .
There is no doubt that by working with all the areas of the Labour Party when drafting the London Labour manifesto , Sadiq was able to reach out to hundreds of thousands of ordinary Londoners and encourage them to come out and vote . This was not just Labour Party supporters – Sadiq ’ s programme appealed to people far beyond the party membership .
ONE OF US Khan represents all Londoners , not just the rich .
It ’ s this kind of campaigning that is required if Labour is to win elections . Politicians need to show that , as with Sadiq ’ s campaign , Labour is a party for everyone . The party is unlike the Tories , who only look after their rich friends , bankers and hedge fund managers in the City .
I ’ m sure that Zac Goldsmith and his Conservative cronies are saddened by the London mayor and council election results . Instead of focusing on positive ideas , they resorted to negative , divisive personal attacks on Sadiq , making out that he had encouraged radicalisation . This was a major part of Goldsmith ’ s downfall , so much so that his campaign was heavily criticised by Tory grandees … And we can see what voters thought of it .
Like a good politician , Sadiq ignored these attacks and concentrated on issues that are affecting hundreds of thousands of Londoners right now , refusing to become side-tracked into division , and concentrating on hope for millions of ordinary Londoners .
Issues like the lack of social housing , the high cost of living , rising crime rates and London ’ s security , inequality of opportunity , falling education standards , health and the environment , jobs and prosperity – these are the things voters want the mayor to tackle , and Labour produced a manifesto that dealt with all these issues .
RIGHT TRACK During the campaign , Khan focused on the issues that matter .
As GMB members , our aims and values are cemented into Sadiq ’ s programme for London and we have an opportunity now to build on Labour ’ s success . As a trade union we all need to maintain and build support for Labour in London and beyond by reaching out to all our members and engaging them far more in politics than ever before , and to be part of a growing group of GMB activists by joining London Region ’ s political activists in TeamGMB by visiting the website below .
TEAMGMB
If we want to win elections , we all have to play a significant part . Join us at : www . gmbunion . org / political . html
26 CANDID – GMB London