Thread by @crisortunity, Attention West London climate twitter! In a niche thread which nobody asked [...]

Attention West London climate twitter! In a niche thread which nobody asked for and which is guaranteed to please absolutely no-one, I am going to tell you how to vote for the climate tomorrow in the #LondonMayoralElection
Everybody else, as you were
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First, some caveats:
- these are my personal views and do NOT reflect the views of any of my employers or groups with whom I am affiliated
- I will brook no arguments and will not be engaging with those who wish to quibble. You are free to take my excellent advice, or not
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You get THREE ballot papers in this election, a pink one for the London Mayor, a yellow one for your constiuency London Assembly Member and an orange one for the London-wide Assembly candidates. Each vote works slightly differently
https://www.londonelects.org.uk/im-voter/how-complete-your-ballot-papers
3/n">https://www.londonelects.org.uk/im-voter/...

The Mayoral ballot - the pink one - gives you TWO votes - your first preference, and your second preference for Mayor.

The most important thing with this one is to NOT give Shaun Bailey either of these votes

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🚫" title=""Betreten verboten!"-Zeichen" aria-label="Emoji: "Betreten verboten!"-Zeichen">
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The Mayoral ballot - the pink one - gives you TWO votes - your first preference, and your second preference for Mayor. The most important thing with this one is to NOT give Shaun Bailey either of these votes https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable=

4/n" title="The Mayoral ballot - the pink one - gives you TWO votes - your first preference, and your second preference for Mayor. The most important thing with this one is to NOT give Shaun Bailey either of these votes https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🚫" title=""Betreten verboten!"-Zeichen" aria-label="Emoji: "Betreten verboten!"-Zeichen"> 4/n" class="img-responsive" style="max-width:100%;"/>

Don’t try and tell me green Tories don’t exist. They do. I’ve met some. Shaun Bailey is not one of them. His manifesto pledges (sometimes for things the Mayor has no powers to deliver) read like a letter to Father Christmas from the Association of British Drivers
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Sadiq Khan will win. This is a good thing. He has been and is, relatively speaking, excellent on climate and environment in general. Yay! Has he been perfect? No. In particular, Sadiq supports a massive road building project in London - the @SilvertownTn
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Basically everybody, including lots of Labour political colleagues, has told him it should be rethunk. Why does Sadiq still support it? Nobody seems to know. It is very perplexing. (Shaun Bailey also supports Silvertown).
7/ https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/may/05/scrap-thames-tunnel-or-lose-our-support-activists-tell-sadiq-khan?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other">https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2...

Scrap Thames tunnel or lose our support, activists tell Sadiq Khan

Campaigners and Labour youth groups urge London mayor to shelve plan for £2bn Silvertown tunnel

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/may/05/scrap-thames-tunnel-or-lose-our-support-activists-tell-sadiq-khan?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

For this reason, climate voters should NOT give Khan our first preference votes. Contrary to this misleading & unedifying claim, you do not need to worry that this could inadvertently lead to Shaun Bailey becoming Mayor - SO LONG AS you DO give Sadiq your SECOND preference vote
8 https://twitter.com/labourlist/status/1386715395449557004">https://twitter.com/labourlis...

https://twitter.com/labourlist/status/1386715395449557004

You should give your FIRST preference vote to Sian Berry of the Green Party. She is a very high quality climate candidate. You can read her manifesto here: https://www.sianberry.london/manifesto/our-manifesto-a-new-start-for-london/">https://www.sianberry.london/manifesto... Giving Sian/Green your first preference sends a very clear political signal about your priorities
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Our manifesto: a new start for London

Our policies open up a new start, making London the city best prepared for the future. We promise to share power with Londoners, involving our citizens in decisions. USE THREE VOTES FOR SIAN BERRY …

https://www.sianberry.london/manifesto/our-manifesto-a-new-start-for-london/

If you don’t like the Greens for whatever reason, other candidates of smaller parties (like Luisa Porritt of the Lib Dem’s) also have strong climate policies, and don’t support Silvertown Tunnel. https://www.luisa4london.co.uk/porritt_silvertown_tunnel_makes_mockery_of_khan_s_green_credentials
10/">https://www.luisa4london.co.uk/porritt_s...

Porritt: Silvertown Tunnel makes mockery of Khan’s green credentials

Luisa Porritt for Mayor of London

https://www.luisa4london.co.uk/porritt_silvertown_tunnel_makes_mockery_of_khan_s_green_credentials

It is also very important for the climate that Count Binface gets more first preference votes than Laurence Fox in this contest. Don’t ask me why, it’s obvious. So it is also OK by the climate - encouraged, even - to cast your first preference vote for Count Binface
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The way the Mayoral voting system works means that every first preference vote is handed out, then everyone but the two candidates with the most votes gets knocked out. Any second preference votes for these two are then added to determine the winner
11/ https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/1405063/?utm_source=showcase&utm_campaign=visualisation/1405063">https://public.flourish.studio/visualisa...

2016 London Mayor Supplimentrary Vote

A Flourish data visualisation by Electoral Reform Society

https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/1405063/?utm_source=showcase&utm_campaign=visualisation/1405063

There is *no point* casting your second preference vote for a smaller party: this vote will be never be counted. You must vote for different candidates with your first and second preference votes.
12/ https://www.theguardian.com/politics/ng-interactive/2016/may/04/london-mayoral-election-how-to-make-the-most-of-your-second-vote?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other">https://www.theguardian.com/politics/...

London mayoral election: how to make the most of your second vote

In 2012 over 2 million Londoners cast a valid first-preference vote for the city’s mayor. In the second round, just 82,800 votes - representing 3.8% of the electorate - were registered for the...

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/ng-interactive/2016/may/04/london-mayoral-election-how-to-make-the-most-of-your-second-vote?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

DO NOT FORGET TO GIVE SADIQ KHAN YOUR SECOND PREFERENCE VOTE
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But WAIT

You still have TWO MORE VOTES to cast in this election - for candidates who want to represent you on the London Assembly.
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Your CONSTITUENCY ballot is the YELLOW one. These votes are counted under First Past the Post, and in the West Central Constituency, where I live, our representative for the past 5 years has been low grade Jacob Rees-Mogg knockoff Tony Devenish
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Tony Devenish is a self-appointed brigadier in the self-styled war on motorists, on behalf of the motorists
16/ https://www.mylondon.news/news/west-london-news/tory-politician-defends-residents-londons-20372990">https://www.mylondon.news/news/west...

Politician says gas guzzling cars essential for West Londoners with kids and dog

36% of cars sold in one borough were 'Chelsea tractors' even though London's streets can be notoriously narrow with tight parking spaces

https://www.mylondon.news/news/west-london-news/tory-politician-defends-residents-londons-20372990

Tony boasts about having orchestrated the lobby to get the Kensington High Street cycle lane scrapped after a few weeks
17/ https://www.standard.co.uk/news/transport/kensington-cycle-lane-axed-refund-government-cash-b115087.html">https://www.standard.co.uk/news/tran...

Council axing cycle lanes told to refund £300,000 of Government cash

Council says it acted after hundreds of residents and businesses called for their removal - but petition includes signatories from the US, India, Nigeria and Venezuela

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/transport/kensington-cycle-lane-axed-refund-government-cash-b115087.html

Tony has been a DISASTER for the climate, and the West Central London constituency *desperately* needs to get shot of him at this election. Only the Labour candidate can beat Tony.

This is why you must cast your constituency vote for Rita Begum of the Labour Party

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Don’t know much about her but Rita seems pretty great
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Your final ballot - the orange one - is for London-wide candidates. They are elected from a list via proportional representation, so every vote counts.

The climate vote here is for the Green Party

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Assembly Members are there to scrutinise the Mayor’s work. The London Assembly has had two Green Members for years and they do a very good job of providing constructive opposition to Sadiq Khan and raising Mayoral ambition on climate. https://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/local-one-party-states-are-a-gift-for-cronies-and-lobbyists/
21/">https://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/local-one...

Local one party states are a gift for cronies and lobbyists

England is likely to see swathes of ‘one-party councils’ picked next week, under England and Wales’ one-party takes all local electoral system.Spread out over a whole council

https://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/local-one-party-states-are-a-gift-for-cronies-and-lobbyists/

An added bonus here is that your London-wide vote should also elect Zack Polanski - an excellent climate candidate who remember, you should NOT vote for in the West Central London constituency vote
21/ https://london.greenparty.org.uk/election-candidates/">https://london.greenparty.org.uk/election-...

Election Candidates - London Green Party

https://london.greenparty.org.uk/election-candidates/

As promised at the top of this thread, nobody with strong party affiliations of any hue will like my advice. But it is objectively good advice for anyone wanting to prioritise action on climate change in the London Mayoral election. Happy voting, West London climate twitter!
ENDS

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