Personally, I’ve always found election time in Newham enjoyable but regrettably there’s rarely any real debate. The democratic deficit created by the all-powerful Labour Party – that’s produced effectively a one-party state in the borough – ensures that there’s little scope for sparks to fly or temperatures to rise. Labour labours hard to close down debate and to ensure that everyone sings from their Town Hall song sheet.

So it was with some amusement that we received a letter from the solicitor of Newham’s Mayor Sir Robin Wales. It seems we’ve scored a significant hit and one of our election leaflets has incurred Sir Robin’s wrath: “It will be understood by those reading (the leaflet) that the Mayor has put his own interests above those of disabled drivers and (it) makes derogatory comments on the Mayor’s motives and values,” said the solicitor’s letter. “(It) will undoubtedly cause serious and ongoing damage to the Mayor’s reputation, feelings and chances of re-election.”

Our intention is not to upset the man himself but rather to expose his self-serving secular administration. So… yes, it’s election time and we are objecting by all valid means to the values and policies that this all-powerful executive Mayor has imposed on Newham during his second term of office. And yes, we believe from the evidence that the Mayor puts his own interests above those of disabled drivers and many others. And yes, we wish to do all we can to swim against Newham’s traditional Labour tide, to spoil his chances of re-election and to offer a better and Christian alternative.

So we’re guilty as charged by his solicitor – but welcome to democracy and legitimate democratic politics, Sir Robin.

The letter continued by listing 11 demands to which CPA should agree including the disclosure of all the names and addresses to which the leaflets have been distributed (we had 23,000 printed and most have been delivered!); the publication of a full apology; the payment of Sir Robin’s legal expenses; and the donation of £5,000 to a charity of his choice.

“Typical,” said one wit in the office, “God had Ten Commandments so Sir Robin has to have eleven.”

The source of all this controversy? It centres primarily on a photo taken with my family camera in the basement of Newham Council’s sparkling new glass offices close to London City Airport. It’s a picture of the parking space that is closest to the lifts and stairs to the offices above.

Before Newham Council moved in, it rightly had been reserved for disabled drivers. Now it’s reserved for you-know-who who parks his car daily over the blacked-out disabled logo. Case closed.

You can see how we’ve used the photo in the latest edition of the Newham Recorder – turn to page 15 on the online digital edition here.

We’ve used it too on the Christian Peoples Alliance pages in the Mayoral election booklet that is sent free to every voter across Newham. In view of Sir Robin’s legal letter it’s significant that all party inserts in the booklet have to be approved for their accuracy and fair comment by the Council’s Chief Executive & Returning Officer and also by the Council’s Head of Legal Services.

We’re also promoting it on a lorry that is driving around Newham for the last two weeks of the campaign.

Our aim is to highlight the strutting preening self-promoting values that are at the heart of New Labour’s showcase project in Newham – in direct contrast with the caring serving Christian values that were taught to us by the Son of God. Newham Labour operates at the Town Hall through the unholy trinity of power, control and self-promoting spin, and we are attempting to hold up a mirror so that all Newham can see just how ugly is this secular ‘we-don’t-do-God’ (here) New Labour project beneath its smooth glossy exterior.

We replied to the solicitor’s letter suggesting that Sir Robin should recognise that our leaflet is part of the rough and tumble of election politics and is therefore protected as such by the law. The alternative is that he’ll have to take us to court.

So far we’ve heard no more. It seems Sir Robin has blinked first.

My apologies to any readers who have missed my posts over the past few weeks. I’ve been taken over by preparations for the Newham elections on 6th May. The Christian Peoples Alliance is putting up candidates for Newham Council right across the borough; I’m standing as CPA candidate for Newham’s executive Mayor; and in the national General Election on the same day we’re running a candidate – Stan Gain – in the West Ham parliamentary constituency.

This is a massive exercise for a small party that relies almost entirely on volunteers. But we’re up and running, the initial exhausting preparation and organisation is over, the campaign is going well and I’ve now a little more time for blogging.

On the doors it appears many people are confused about how to vote in the General Election. “They’re all the same” and “I can’t tell the difference” is a common refrain, and apathy a common result. Many it seems won’t vote at all.

So I was amused to see this refusenik position being bolstered recently by handbills that suddenly sprouted on walls and advertising hoardings around my neighbourhood. ‘Voting is Haram’ they announced – ‘haram’ being an Arabic term for ‘forbidden by Islamic law’. Muslims were being urged not to vote in the elections.

This is of course a minority position within the Muslim community (here) that is propounded mainly by extremist groups like Hizb-ut-Tahrir and al-Muhajiroun and its successors. And it’s in interesting contrast to Premier Christian Radio’s worthy initiative called ‘I Promise To Vote’ (here) which attempts to mobilise Christians for the elections.

Personally I’ve always insisted on going to the polling station and fulfilling my civic duty. But in the past, when faced with the mind-numbingly anodyne and limiting choice of one of the three main parties (which is Box and which is Cox?), I’ve often scrawled ‘Christ is King’ across the ballot paper and stuffed it in the box.

It may have been a spoilt ballot paper, but at least I’ve expressed my views.