Last Thursday saw by-election day in the Royal Docks ward of Newham. It was the end of a six week campaign that brought narrow victory for the amiable Labour candidate Steve Brayshaw and total defeat for the reputation of local politics.

It was a vicious reputation-shredding campaign between the two major parties as both Tories and Labour slagged each other down on the streets, in their election literature and through the internet. The leafleting, door-knocking and telephone-canvassing by both parties grew ever more intense – as did the political attacks and personal smears. And on election night the ward was stuffed full of party faithful from both sides ‘knocking-up’ reluctant voters and pleading with them to come out to vote for their respective candidates.

Labour had all but seven of the sixty seats on Newham Council. But this dominance did not stop them wheeling in Olympics minister Tessa Jowell, local MP Lyn Brown, the executive Mayor of Newham Sir Robin Wales and probably every one of their 53 councillors – plus trade unionists, party activists and volunteers – to fight an election in the borough’s smallest and most isolated ward. One Labour campaigner proudly announced that on election day the party had 93 (yes, ninety three) people working the ward!

As a display of raw power, it was awesome. As an exercise in enlightened participatory politics it was awful. In the event Steve beat Neil Pearce, the Conservative candidate, by 15 votes in a ballot in which only 22.8% – less than one in four – bothered to vote.

Therein lies the problem. During the campaign local (and national) politicians have dishonoured the people of Royal Docks who have long been ignored as well as isolated. A local councillor died and immediately they found themselves the focus of unaccustomed attention – not to receive better services but simply as a source of votes. For six weeks they became the electoral playground and gladiatorial amphitheatre for determined and ruthless political parties. They became a bone for the party dogs to fight over.

“F*** off. I’m sick of it. You’ve been banging on my door all week,” a man in Woodman Street told me two nights before the election. I hadn’t, but collectively we had. On the day, over 77% – including the man in Woodman Street – declined to vote.

What is to be done? The answer is not easy. But we could start by viewing local voters as people to serve rather than as a source of power. We could look up to them rather than down on them. We could give to them rather than take from them.

A radical heart-change along these lines by politicians and government bureaucrats would lead to a beneficial change of culture, discourse and language in our public life.

In a previous more Christian era, such people were called public servants who went into public service. “The leader is the one who serves,” said Christ. Note the word. We could do with replacing our current strutting political power-play with some caring and committed public service.

How did CPA fare? We were thoroughly and classically squeezed by the two major parties as they slugged it out and traded blows. We did worse than expected although we acknowledged we had a mountain to climb with little prior CPA name-recognition in the ward.

However at the count our candidate Anne-Marie Philip was rightly complimented for her clean fight. One day soon she will make a great young councillor, dv. We intend that that should happen on 6th May next year.

According to an excellent young Salvation Army captain called Nick, I should soon be spending a couple of days marching on the streets of London. Tall, lean and with two young sons and a thick Scots accent, he was our preacher in church yesterday.

His Bible text was the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10: 25f) and the title of his message came from an incident he recounted from the life of William Booth, the founder of the Army.

It was around the turn of the last century and money was short but Booth wanted to send a clear message to the burgeoning Salvation Army Corps around the world. Telegrams were the most rapid means of communication a hundred years ago but they were priced on a ‘per word’ basis.

Booth was a communicator of genius and he sent a one-word telegram that brilliantly encapsulated the essence of his Christian message which was also Nick’s theme yesterday: “Others”.

As he warmed to his theme, Nick reminded us firmly that to love others as ourselves is a fundamental Biblical injunction. When a Jewish lawyer asked Jesus about loving his neighbour, the Lord told a story about a despised and outcast Samaritan who was the only person to come to the aid of a mugged and injured traveller. “Go and do likewise,” said Christ.

Arguing that we should be good neighbours to ‘undocumented migrants’ (aka ‘paperless residents’, ‘unauthorised aliens’ – oh, and ‘illegal immigrants’ too) Nick challenged us to join the ‘Strangers into Citizens’ rally at Trafalgar Square on Bank Holiday Monday, 4th May, run by the big-hitting and mold-breaking Citizen Organising Foundation whose first-ever meeting I attended at St Margaret’s RC Church, Canning Town, back in 1994. That smallest of seeds has grown into a cross-London tree such that senior politicians now compete to perch in its branches and stand on its platforms.

Certainly it’s vital we treat all immigrants humanely and fairly, and personally I like the Strangers into Citizens idea of an earned amnesty for long-term illegals of good character. But, pace EU legislation and my own commitment to London’s diversity, I also favour a three or four year moratorium on non-refugee immigration.

Before the rent-a-gobs shout “racist” and “BNP” they should note that, according to BBC and MORI polls, 60% of Asian and 45% of Black people also reckon current immigration is excessive. They too suffer from the resulting pressure on public services and social infra-structure, so to them – and me – the issue is about numbers not race. But a full explanation of my views will have to await another post.

Salvationist Nick also wanted us to join the ‘Putting People First march for Jobs, Justice and Climate’ ahead of the massive G20 Summit that is taking place locally here at ExCel Exhibition Centre, also in Canning Town, on 2nd April. (Having lived in the community for over quarter of a century and now representing the area as a local councillor, I can tell you: Canning Town really is the centre of the universe.)

The Putting People First march is at Victoria Embankment on 28th March and supported by unions such as Unison and GMB, aid organisations such as Christian Aid, CAFOD and Tearfund – and a company called Pants To Poverty which trades in “ethical underware that are fair-trade certified, sweat-shop free, and made from organic cotton from India”.

I dunno about ethical underpants. It’s my shoe leather I’m now concerned about. Thanks Nick.

Last night I attended the 10th anniversary celebrations of City Gateway (www.citygateway.org.uk) a Tower Hamlets-based charity that works with deprived and disengaged youth and women with low aspirations and low language abilities, bringing them skills, motivation and ambition. ‘Ten Years of Bringing Hope to Tower Hamlets’ was the theme of the event.

It was a glittering affair held in the East Wintergarden at Canary Wharf with its spectacular 27 metre high arched glass-roofed atrium. 400 of us munched canapés, quaffed bubbly, fruit juice or Red Bull (I suppose exhausted City-types from Canary Wharf need the caffeinated energy drink after a hard day of crashing FTSEs, dwindling bonuses and shrunken expense-account lunches) and we listened to two government ministers – Andy Burnham and Stephen Timms – lauding the virtues of City Gateway.  There can’t be many young charities with such establishment pulling-power.

Stephen Timms gave out awards and certificates, and told us proudly how the Prime Minister had appointed him the Labour Party’s first-ever Vice-Chair for Faith Groups – a fact that was reiterated on the large screen above his head. Another indication of the rise of religion in public life?

All this was a far cry from my last visit to the East Wintergarden during the small hours of 6th May 2005 where, following a tense General Election count, George Galloway was declared the new Respect MP for Bethnal Green & Bow. He promptly proclaimed “Mr Blair, this is for Iraq”, and then proceeded to slag off Tower Hamlets Council’s Chief Executive – who could not defend herself – for running an election “that would disgrace a banana republic”.

The speakers yesterday were far more impressive, none more so than Eddie Stride, City Gateway’s Chief Executive, and Dirk Paterson, Chairman of the Trustees. They explained how the charity had struggled in the early days and how staff had given up well paid jobs to work with the organisation and help achieve the vision.

Since then they had not looked back and many of the charity’s beneficiaries drawn from Tower Hamlets’ different communities were there to give testimony as to how City Gateway had changed their lives for the better. The organisation has deliberately targeted hard-to-reach people; a third of Tower Hamlets’ population is of Bangladeshi Muslim origin, half of whom are under 20, and over 30% are unemployed.

Eddie and Dirk explained the strong Christian roots of the charity, of which I was previously unaware. The founders were professional people from local churches and their faith was their motivation. “Jesus taught that we should love our neighbours and City Gateway is our attempt to do so,” said an unashamed Eddie in front the worldly-wise Canary Wharf business executives.

My only regret was that City Gateway partners had to finance this stylish event rather than put their money into the charity’s work on the ground. But that’s the name of the game these days for those who want to tap into CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) funding.

All in all it was an impressive showcase for an impressive organisation.

Yes, I know. There’s nothing unusual about the Tories losing an election here in Labour-run Newham in the deprived East End of London. After all, Labour have had such a long-term and total stranglehold on the borough that when I was first elected as a councillor in 2002 I was the sole non-Labour elected representative in Newham at any level (European and Westminster parliaments, London Assembly and Newham Council) for some years. And the Tories haven’t won a single Council seat here for over a decade.

But they now reckon they are the favourites to win a Council by-election in Royal Docks ward on 26th March – a by-election caused by the unexpected death of Labour councillor Simon Tucker.

Jack Dash and his militant Communists in the old London docks of the ‘50s and ‘60s would turn in their graves. The Royal Docks area was their typical working class stamping ground. It comprises a thin and isolated sliver of land between the Royal Victoria and King George V docks to the north and the Thames to the south and there, until recently, Conservatives were like snowflakes in a bush fire.

But gentrification has taken hold via the new large Britannia Village, Barrier Point and Gallions Point developments with the result that the Conservatives came a close second to Labour in the ward at the 2006 Council elections and even closer at last year’s London Mayor and Assembly elections.

Gentrification and an active Conservative candidate combined with the terminal unpopularity of the Labour government and local animosity towards Newham’s New Labour executive Mayor means the by-election is simply the Tories’ to lose according to some punters. Me? I’ll wait and see.

And CPA? We’ve a superb candidate in Anne-Marie Philip. Young, personable, bright, articulate, of Asian background (British-born to Indian parents) and with a committed Christian faith, she lives in Canning Town and works in the voluntary sector with the disengaged youth of Tower Hamlets. She represents a new generation of committed Christian activists.

But we’ve got our work cut out to catch up with the major parties as CPA has not campaigned in Royal Docks ward before and our name recognition is low. However we’ve had good teams out leafleting and door-knocking in the cold and the wet, and many people are fed up with both the major parties.

Two things worth noting: First, the Labour candidate is promoting himself but not his party. Out campaigning on Saturday I saw two of his leaflets and both mentioned the Labour Party only in small print at the bottom of the page. The “Labour” label has become a toxic asset and a busted brand.

Second, it’s ironic that both the Conservative and Labour candidates are campaigning hard against the expansion of London City Airport which is located within the ward – the self-same expansion that has already been approved by a cosy cross-party consensus of the Conservative Mayor of London and the Labour Mayor of Newham.

The by-election issues may be parochial but they’re fascinating.