Test blog

Some of the older people in and around South Bermondsey have been urging me to 'blog' about my experiences as a new councillor in Bermondsey. I was like 'what the hell is blogging?'. They were like 'don't be such a square!'.

Anyway, having done a bit of research and found out what this new-fangled 'blogging' is all about, I've decided to give it a go. I'll use this as a space to discuss some of the issues that my constituents raise with me, talk about things going on in Bermondsey and across the borough of Southwark, and to generally say what I see.

As a newly elected Labour councillor in South Bermondsey ward (which had previously been held by Lib Dems for nearly 30 years) it was particular privilege and excitement to have been elected on a such an ambitious and progressive manifesto (11,000 new council homes, free swim and gym use for all residents, ALL Southwark school-leavers going into employment education or training, & so very much more) and to have the Southwark Labour group deservedly assume a dominant position on the Council (48 of the 63 council seats).  

Since last May it's been an incredible few months learning how the different parts of the council works, seeing the different ways the bureaucracy unfurls itself in our communities, and generally discovering the many ways a local authority councillor can go about making him/herself useful. 

For those precious few who have stumbled upon this blog without knowing me beforehand, I've managed to take on a few extra responsibilities as most councillors do, which I mean to write about in the months and years ahead - a deputy cabinet brief overseeing design issues in our new council housing and across the planning piece; a spot on one of the planning sub-committees; a place on the board of Millwall FC's Millwall For All Trust; and a position on the board of the new Blue Bermondsey business improvement district - a big effort to drive a thorough-going rejuvenation of the market and high street around the Blue. 

On all of these things and much else, I'm hoping this blog can help me and my hugely talented co-councillors Sunny Lambe and Catherine Dale get across some of what we're up to in and around the area.


For general queries and help with council-related matters, don't hesitate to get in touch with us. 

Cllr Catherine Dale - catherine.dale@southwark.gov.uk - 07985 114194 - @catdawo
Cllr Sunny Lambe - sunny.lambe@southwark.gov.uk - 07985 114345 - @sunnylambe
Cllr Leo Pollak - leo.pollak@southwark.gov.uk - 07985 114299 - @leo_pollak

And for those of you who feel that you can never have too many social media outlets, there's a ward Labour party blog at southbermondseylabour.wordpress.com featuring a blog post saying 'hello and thank you', a twitter account @Bermondsey_Lab with various posts on things going on in the local area, and the South Bermondsey Labour twitter account links to the South Bermondsey Facebook page. Never let it be said we're hiding in plain sight!

Some of the rejected names for this blog, available to anyone else blogging on Bermondsey matters: 
"Dear Bermondsey", 
"Bermondsey Brushstrokes", 
"It's a Hard Knock Bermondsey", 
"In the Valley of the Neckinger", 
"Bermondsey and Chips", 
"Bla bla bla Bermondsey", 
"Bermondsey Actually".